[www.inewsguyana.com] – Former President, Donald Ramotar and Ambassador of the European Union to Guyana, Jernej Videtič, continue to be at loggerheads as it relates to the disbursement of EU grants to Guyana under the former PPP government.
The Ambassador had responded to Ramotar, who had accused the EU of not delivering on a €25 million agreement. In a letter published on the official Facebook Page of the Delegation of the European Union in Guyana, the Ambassador made it clear that it was the former PPP government which did not deliver on the terms of the agreement due to the prorogation of Parliament and “little progress in public finance management reforms.”
But Ramotar in his response on October 27 remains adamant that Guyana did meet the conditions required for disbursement of EU budget support grants.
See Ramotar’s full response below:
I have noted yesterday’s statement by the current EU Ambassador regarding the withholding of budget support grants due to Guyana by the EU and, in particular, the Ambassador’s suggestion that the grants were withheld because Guyana was not in compliance with the conditions required for disbursement.
It is most regrettable that the Ambassador did not acquaint himself fully with the facts of this matter before pronouncing on it.
In January 2015, my Government issued a release stating as follows: “Government now wishes to make publicly available the attached communication from the same EU Delegation, dated 8 September 2014, indicating clearly that Guyana had met the eligibility criteria required to qualify for disbursements totalling €25,858,025, and that the same Delegation had recommended disbursement of this sum to the EU Budget Support Steering Committee in Brussels which was due to meet on 17 September 2014.”
At the time of making that release, my Government pointed out that the EU Delegation had stated in writing that the conditions were fulfilled and had further stated in writing that they were recommending the disbursement of €25.9 million on the basis of their satisfaction with fulfilment of the required conditions.
At the time of the January 2015 statement, it was further pointed out that Parliament was not prorogued until 10 November 2014, so the prorogation of Parliament could not possibly have been a basis for withholding a disbursement due since September 2014.
In fact, after Guyana had qualified for the grants and encountered the first delays in their disbursement, in a meeting in my office with the then EU Ambassador, I was advised that the reason for the delay was the impasse over the anti-money laundering legislation.
No mention was made about the prorogation of Parliament, not surprisingly because prorogation was only to come much later, and no mention was made about any conditions not being met. The sole matter mentioned was the delay in passage of the anti-money laundering legislation.
The indisputable fact is that Guyana did meet the conditions required for disbursement, the technical officers at the EU Delegation and the EU’s contracted technical experts were satisfied that these conditions were met, they confirmed this in writing to my Government at the time, but the disbursements were subsequently withheld with absolutely no legitimate basis. Indeed, with all that has transpired since, it is now evident that the withholding of these grants was an act of political interference.
I maintain my earlier position that Guyana had qualified for the budget support grants and that these were unjustifiably and arbitrarily withheld by the EU, and I reproduce hereunder the communication previously released publicly in January 2015.
The Ambassador speaks of European taxpayers’ money. Perhaps he needs to be reminded that much of the wealth accumulated by Europe was built on the backs of enslaved and bounded labour, and as a result of the worst crime ever committed against humanity, leading to the very justifiable recent calls for reparations. In this regard, Walter Rodney’s seminal book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, is instructive in understanding European exploitation of the developing world, including the Caribbean.
The first lines tell me you are just a depressed looser still suffering from the election results, talking about what 2 dead men did is not the subject today, think of what you can do for tomorrow’s development, WAKE UP, the sky is the limit,Guyanese like yourself that thinking of the past is the reason you guys still fetching water to flush the toilet, Stop botching and start doing something for your country,,,
It’s a pity you are so blind… You don’t even see that you are being used by the abc and Eu countries. You still are a slave to them and will always be a salve until you start thinking for yourself. Try to read between the lines… The only reason the abc countries played a part in ousting the PPP is because they could not dictate to the PPP how they should run the affairs of this country. They couldn’t get their way and used a desperate apnu/AFC coalition with a thirst for power and greed to get what they want. Now look at the policitcal blunders made by your government and also those of the us and Eu diplomats.
This man is really stupid….it’s all tax payers money that’s given to GoG to use and spending must be accountable and transparent. Don’t run down the hand that feeds you as when they put a squeeze on funds and then you cuss and squeak the international community decided enough of your theft of funds…..and this man was supposed to be writing a book????…. Don’t make me laugh….
I suspect that Ramotor is not the dunder head here BUT you are! THE ABC COUNTRIES INSTALL the fools of the PNC to destroy Guyana Economy….similar to what Burhnam/Hoyte did back in the days. THE GUYANA DOLLAR VALUE WILL DEPRECIATE IN VALUE ALLOWING THE ABC COUNTRIES TO SUCK THE OIL MONEY OUT AT A CHEAPER PRICE! BEFORE OIL WAS DISCOVERED, THESE COUNTRIES HAD NO INTEREST IN GUYANA! THEY STUDY THE HISTORY OF GUYANA WELL TO REALIZED THAT THIS WILL BE THE CASE! SINCE THE APNU TOOK OFFICE NAME ONE GOOD THING THEY HAVE DONE? RICE INDUSTRIES ARE DEAD, SUGAR INDUSTRIES ARE DEAD, ECONOMY IS SLOWING DOWN, BUSINESS OWNERS ARE CRYING, JOBS ARE BEING LOST, CRIME RATE IS HIGH IN THE SKY….YOU NEED PEOPLE TO SPELL OUT SOME MORE FACTS TO YOU? I SUSPECT YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE NEWS EVERYDAY OR YOU MUST BE BENEFITED FROM THE APNU…..OR MAYBE YOU ARE A BUXTON THIEF JUST LIKE THEM!
Young you sound like the dunderhead. President is right , the news ambassador was mislead. I respond to this issue , however inews block my comment, i hope it was a mistake.
A very well worded letter in response to our misinformed Ambassador. It appears that both the USA and eu diplomats have dropped the ball as it relates to their knowledge of political affairs with this country. The USA passed the anti money laundering document submitted to FATF by the apnu/afc coalition even before it was handed to that body only to be told the document was incomplete and lacking. Then our learned EU ambassador was quick on the draw to chastise the former president only to be put to his place by the above letter and it’s proof that it was indeed the EU who erred! This new government seems bent on relying on assistance from these international countries for political guidance, maybe they need a crash course in politics for dummies!!
Ramotar’s just pissed off because the UK did not release the funds while they were still in office.
Ramotar continues to sound like a dunderhead. What does he think the Ambassador was referring to when he said “little progress in public finance management reforms”? He was definitely not referring to the prorogation of parliament. By the way is Ramotar insinuating that the European Union was also part of the alleged grand scheme by the ABC countries to remove the PPP from office? If he is then he should look himself, and his colleagues in the mirror and ask himself what have they done so wrong to cause all of these countries to want them out of government so bad that they would do such things.