The meeting, which began at 15:50 hrs and ended at approximately 22:00 hrs last night, was held in the Supreme Court Library, Georgetown.

Spokesperson for the Social Partners grouping, Dr. Peter DeGroot has reported that the meeting reached agreement on two-thirds of the draft Communique on Crime and it is expected to address the remaining one-third when it reconvened on Thursday at the same venue.

In an invited comment, Information Liaison to the President, Mr. Robert Persaud said the meeting was "productive" and that "substantial progress" was made. He said, too, that the atmosphere was "very cordial with views being expressed freely and various perspectives being entertained by the different parties".

The Chronicle was unable to get a comment from the PNC/R.

The newspaper also understands that the four-page document was reviewed line by line by the parties involved since it was recognised as being very sensitive with wide-ranging implications.

The meeting was requested by the Social Partners Group to end the impasse over the issuing of a much-discussed and amended 'Joint Communique on Crime'. The Social Partners comprise the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Guyana Bar Association (GBA), and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC).

The People's Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) has given the assurance that it will continue to support the Social Partners as they seek to reach concensus, noting that the long stated objective of the party is to achieve true national cooperation in the fight against crime.

The Social Partners Group, through its spokesperson, Dr.DeGroot, last Wednesday dispatched letters to the political parties in Parliament and their leaders, inviting them to yesterday's meeting.

The letters were addressed to President Bharrat Jagdeo; Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Desmond Hoyte; Mr. Donald Ramotar, General Secretary, PPP; Mr. Oscar Clarke, PNC/R General Secretary; Mr. Ravi Dev, Leader of the Rise Organise and Rebuild (ROAR); Mr. Manzoor Nadir, Leader of The United Force (TUF) and Ms. Sheila Holder of the Guyana Action Party/Working People's Alliance (GAP/WPA).

The letter stated that the purpose of the meeting was to review and settle a document on the prevailing security environment and a Joint Communique on Crime.

The letter which recalled that the Social Partners had agreed to treat the security environment as a separate issue, which required immediate attention under the Joint Consultation process, noted that because of the group's lack of experience with such matters, it sought the assistance of "retired heads of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force to assist as experts in the preparation of an anti-crime paper.

In addition, it said, a series of meetings was held with the leaderships of the parliamentary parties, with President Jagdeo and the Leader of the Opposition, in respect of the document.

The PPP, in a statement prior to yesterday's meeting, applauded the efforts of the Social Partners and said it will continue to support this initiative in the context of the need to forge genuine national concensus on crime.

Among those representing the party at yesterday's meeting were PPP Central Executive Members - Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Reepu Daman Persaud; PPP/C Region Four Councillor Mr. Desmond Morian and Mr. Robert Persaud.

Representing the Government were Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon; Public Service Minister, Ms. Jennifer Westford; Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Ms. Gail Teixeira; Ministerial Advisor, Mr. Odinga Lumumba; and Security Advisor, Mr. Feroze Mohamed.