Stabroek News
August 22, 2001

The committee on national security set up by President Bharrat Jagdeo and PNC/R leader, Desmond Hoyte has recommended

that the government should move to have the long-term border problems with Suriname and Venezuela resolved by international tribunals.

Sources say the committee believes that Guyana has exhausted all the relevant bilateral measures and should consider moving into an international legal mode to have matters settled by international tribunals.

The committee's report was submitted to President Jagdeo and Hoyte in June but it is yet to be considered by them as a result of the impasse in the dialogue process.

Institutional mechanisms were also mooted to tackle perceived weaknesses in the defence sector. The mechanisms suggested are a parliamentary committee to deal with national security including border issues and a Borders Institute which would accumulate data and provide information on the country's frontiers.

The committee has also recommended the institutionalisation of structured contacts between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his counterpart on the Opposition benches as well as regular consultation on national security issues between the government and the opposition.

Stabroek News understands that there was a view on the committee that there was insufficient information about the extent of the problems of the Brazilian garimpeiros (illegal miners) including the numbers involved and the activities in which they are engaged.

The Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, on Friday said that the Prime Minister. Sam Hinds, was chairing an inter-agency team which was reviewing all aspects of the problem including the impact of the large number of Brazilians on the hinterland communities.

In relation to the problems of Brazilians, the committee believes that the government should move to regularise the presence of the Brazilian workers who are here.

Dr Luncheon last week announced a policy of zero tolerance for illegal aliens, particularly Brazilians, but noted that the issue was a complex one which had to be addressed comprehensively.

About the border controversy with Venezuela, the committee has recommended that Guyana should continue with the United Nations Good Officer process and stressed the need for accumulation of more information about what takes place on this front.

Last month a Venezuelan parliamentary delegation led by the Foreign Minister Luis Alfonso Davila visited military outposts on Ankoko Island, the Guyana half of which it annexed about three decades ago in pursuit of its claim to the Essequibo region ignoring the 1899 arbitral award which affirmed the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela in a full and final settlement.