Beal advised to delay application for interim permit - Spoede By Gitanjali Singh Stabroek News June 12, 2000 Beal Aerospace Technologies has been advised to delay its application for an interim permit to drain its proposed satellite launch site in Guyana, Beal Vice-President, David Spoede said this week. "We have been advised by people in Guyana to wait to apply for permission to drain for various reasons," Spoede told Stabroek News, refusing to be drawn into discussing the issue further. He said it was not the government which had advised the delay and doubted that the recommendation had anything to do with a lawsuit filed last week to prevent the deal from being consummated. "The government is doing everything it could to push the project forward," Spoede stated. The government signed a 99-year agreement with Beal to set up a satellite launch site in Guyana, waiving taxes for the period. But before closure of the deal, Beal needs to get approval from the US State Department to transfer satellite technology to Guyana and secure political risk insurance for its proposed US$100 million investment. Beal has not yet made a formal approach to the State Department for clearance as it is not known what or when the firm will be exporting to Guyana and it does not want to risk rejection of its application. "Our approach is to continue working the issue informally, as we have been doing in the past. This means gathering support from various other players on the issue in order to persuade the right people in the State Department to approve our project," Spoede said. He noted that currently there was a split in opinion within the State Department over the project. According to Spoede, Beal cannot apply for a general licence to build a rocket launch facility in Guyana or to export rockets to Guyana. "Rather, we apply for a licence to export a specific set of drawings or a specific rocket," said Spoede. And he noted that the company had not yet prepared construction drawings for its facility in Guyana, thereby having no basis to apply for a licence as yet. Beal's strategy, Spoede said, was to lobby Washington to ensure that when an application was made, it would be successful. He noted that lobbying Washington was complicated and time consuming as the State Department was sensitive to what Congress would have to say, especially members of the Foreign Relations committee. The US Department of Defence will also need to have a say. "We will need to meet and work with each of these many individuals to gain their support for our Guyana project before we formally submit a licence application," Spoede said. The company has already had four meetings with the State Department in Washington, numerous meetings with the US embassy in Guyana, dozens of meetings with members of Congress and their staff, as well as sessions with Department of Defence representatives. Beal has identified a specific site to set up its space port but government negotiator Deochand Narain was on Friday reluctant to say what this area was. He was also reluctant to say who will be doing the survey of the area or to make a map of the area available to this newspaper. The government is expected to hold a media briefing on the issue this week. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today