Guyana is First compiling border issues forum recommendations
Guyana is First, the group which hosted the forum on border issues earlier this month, is collating the ideas, recommendations and conclusions of the forum for presentation to Foreign Minister Clement Rohee. A release from the group said that the presentation is "its contribution to the formulation and evolution of our country's border policy." It said too that Guyana is First "is currently packaging the presentations, both in print and video" and that "the distribution to schools and libraries countrywide is dependent upon receipt of funding." Among the recommendations of the forum are that the frontiers policy is not the business of government alone but it is also the responsibility of both government and civil society; a national border commission as an autonomous constitutional body, with members drawn from those Guyanese experienced in such issues is an immediate necessity; diplomatic initiatives at Guyana's missions abroad as well as at any international forum must be intensified and influential people and organisations must be made cognisant of Guyana's position; and that the issue of Amerindian land titles must be finally resolved as this matter was very integral to the determination of the 1899 Paris Award. Among the recommendations too is the need for an immediate education and awareness campaign as the Guyanese population is not knowledgeable of the history, extent and current position of Guyana's borders; that Venezuela's claim of fraud is groundless and that Guyana should yield nothing and make no compromise on the fullness, completeness and finality of the Arbitral Award of 1899.
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