Latest update May 7th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 26, 2015 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
The Foreign Ministry is the second most important Ministry in the country. It is second only to the Ministry of Finance, in terms of prestige and importance to a country.
Your foreign ministry is your interface with the rest of the world. You therefore have to invest in this interface, because if you do not, the returns to the country will not be there. The returns are not always in terms of dollars and cents or in terms of investment and trade. The returns can be in intangibles, which are equally as important to a country.
The PPPC, beginning with Cheddi Jagan, did not understand this fact. They tried to balance public expenditure by initially cutting the appropriation to the Foreign Ministry. They felt that relative to education and health, too much money was being pumped into the Foreign Service. They felt this was wasteful spending and they therefore proceeded to cut expenditure for the foreign ministry.
It backfired on them, because while they were genuine about cutting the “fat cats” out of the system, the process of reducing expenditure within the Foreign Ministry went too far in the early years of Jagan. This hurt the country’s foreign policy.
The Foreign Ministry is a luxury that you cannot do without. The PPPC recognized this later and tried to make amends. But they did not go far enough. Therefore the quality of our Foreign Service leaves much to be desired.
Training is not the solution. There are certain things which have to be learnt on the job. Exposure is what is important. It costs money, but if you are to build a quality foreign service, you have to spend money. The world has become so integrated that it is now necessary that a country has a greater presence in more domains than it ever did in the past. Diplomats need exposure to understand how to function in these various domains.
One of the problems affecting the local Foreign Service is the low-grade pay that is offered to Foreign Service officers. Do not bother to ask any local Foreign Service officer what they are paid. They will be too embarrassed to tell you. There are some security guards – and I am dead serious – who take home more money each month than some Foreign Service officers. And that is a crying shame, because it ultimately affects the quality of recruits to the Foreign Service.
This is why our Foreign Service has suffered so much in the past. It is not the problems at the level of foreign policy. It is the quality of personnel and the resources at their disposal that is the problem. If you want quality personnel you have to pay people well.
The government seems to have recognized that there is a crisis within the Foreign Ministry, and there have been rumours that approaches have been made, or are likely to be made, to have the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic take up some position within the Foreign Service.
If you speak to the diplomatic community resident in Guyana, they will tell you that Elisabeth Harper was one of the best Directors-General this country has ever produced, if not the best. Someone like her is needed to help guide the process of developing a top class foreign service.
There may be the thinking that perhaps she can serve as an ambassador, but this most people would feel would be a case of under-utilizing her talents. If she is to be brought back, she should be brought back to Head the Foreign Ministry, because she is highly respected within the local diplomatic community. She has been known to get the job done. She is also highly respected by the staff of the Foreign Ministry. She should be returned as Director-General, if indeed there are plans to utilize her talents. If not, let her enjoy her retirement.
GRA catch EXXON trying to hunch GUYANA over 11 BUS dollars in one shot!!!!
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