…at UN?
Even diplomats have to defend themselves from the PNC’s brutish displays of power. And so the facts behind the night of the long knives in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs are inevitably oozing out – albeit anonymously, because even in self-defence, diplomats will be diplomats! As your Eyewitness mentioned cryptically yesterday, the shakeup arises from the ambitions of our Permanent Representative to the UN, who wants to become Chair of G-77 or Group of 77.
So the questions arise: Who’s this Rep? What’s G-77? And what’s in the Chair for us?? The fella’s name is Rudolph Ten-Pow, and while he started out in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he absconded over thirty years ago, and served in language/ translation services in the UN and affiliated bodies since 1986. Lest your Eyewitness is accused of hiding other diplomatic “light” possessed by Ten-Pow, he quotes from the Ministry of Foreign Service’s website:
“Ambassador Ten-Pow began his career in the Foreign Service of Guyana in 1980 as Desk Officer for Venezuela and later Head of the Frontiers Division. He joined the UN in 1986 as a Translator from French and Spanish and served for a number of years at ECLAC in Santiago, Chile. Upon his return to UN HQ in 1991, he served successively as Reviser, Training Officer, Chief of the English Translation Service, and Acting Director of the Documentation Division of the United Nations.
During the period from 2013-2015, he joined the World Bank in Washington DC as Senior Programme Manager for Conference Services, returning to the United Nations in 2015 as Acting Director of the Documentation Division, and later as Special Adviser to the United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism.”
And this glorified translator was appointed our UN Rep in 2016 by Granger!! As with the “old boy” network he’s established since 2015, once someone ferrets around, the PNC connection’s sure to be found. Like Ivelaw Griffith at UG, who’d been fired from his last job in Georgia!!
And G-77? This, like the mini-skirt, is from the 1960s and harks back to when the Third World had the grand idea that there was strength in numbers for economic advancement, and 77 of them got together. Burnham became an enthusiastic member, and hosted the foreign ministers of the affiliated Non-Aligned Movement meeting here to boost his “radical” credentials. Even before NAM collapsed, G77 crippled itself when it changed its rules to require consensus rather than majority decision-making. This gives extremists the edge in the largest voting bloc in the UN, and inevitably sets it up against the US – the single most important member.
What’s in the G-77 Chair for Guyana? Nothing, but boosting the libido of a faceless, faded bureaucrat!!
…and sugar
So GuySuCo’s CEO confirmed they’re looking to establish a PLANTATION WHITE SUGAR PLANT at Albion. Hope GAWU’s listening. Now, let’s get something straight: Plantation white sugar is a DIFFERENT product from REFINED white sugar. The impurities from brown sugar aren’t REMOVED, as in the former, but are simply BLEACHED. Hence manufacturers of various condiments and other products that use refined white sugar claim PLANTATION white sugar changes the marketability of their product.
And that’s the stance of the T&T manufacturers as well as most others in Caricom. Even with Plantation White, the extra cost of production can only be justified if the 40% CET is applied on imports. Which, not so incidentally, COTED isn’t even requesting until production of Plantation White will satisfy total Caribbean demand!!
So, is the local GSMA, which has backed GuySuCo’s venture into Plantation White, saying they’ll purchase Albion’s projected 57,000 tons even if the CET isn’t applied? And extra-regional refined white’s cheaper?
Do these people even know what they’re doing, as they gamble with sugar workers’ livelihood??
…and drones
Ramjattan and the army brass have been pinned to the wall on their astounding decision to purchase 5 drones for $180million. For surveillance of our borders, they say!! What about “surveillance” of the bid??
They can’t reveal more. “National security”!! Right!!
