GUYANA’S SOUTHERN FRONTIER
By. Ralph Ramkarran
News in the press about the abortive opening of the Takatu Bridge from the Brazil side of the border reminded me of my recent visit to Boa Vista, the capital of the State of Roraima in Brazil. It was an eye opener. I met business leaders, members of Roraima’s legislature, the Governor and several officials. I was generously assisted by officials of the Guyana Consulate and the Governor’s Office.
I have to confess that even though I had previously visited Brasilia and Region 9 in Guyana, I had never ventured next door to Roraima. I was keen to cure my ignorance of our neighbours on the border.
I had heard many stories about Roraima and its capital, Boa Vista, before I arrived. The two important facts I had learnt was that Boa Vista was a carefully planned and constructed city and that a closer connection between Guyana and Boa Vista was important for both Guyana and Brazil because of the great possibilities of our people and governments doing business together. Boa Vista lived up to my expectations. It’s a beautiful city, attractive to those of us who are accustomed to small cities, and admired by those of us who appreciate the elegant result of forward planning.
Brazil is now without doubt one of the most important and influential countries in the world. Its great size and burgeoning economy, perched on the cusp of becoming an oil power, and the exercise of a deft diplomatic touch with its growing influence, has earned it a place at the table of the developed world because its actions and policies already influence regional and world economic developments. While our interests do not always coincide in a few matters, as in the case of Brazil’s opposition to the EU’s preferential treatment of ACP sugar, they do in a great deal else and there is no question that the outcome of closer economic relations can only have an enormously beneficial impact on both countries, particularly Guyana.
I found in Boa Vista a palpable excitement among business leaders about the potential for increased cooperation between Boa Vista and Guyana. I am not surprised at the anxiety of the Brazilians to get the Takatu Bridge in operation and this would explain the attempted opening.
Brazilian Indians have recently won a case in Brazil’s courts reserving large tracts of lands in the area of the Amazon rain forest for their use. These lands are no longer available for commercial cultivation of soya, rice and other products which require extensive acreage of lands. Roraima business people are therefore in search of lands on which they can produce a large variety of agricultural crops. Brazil is already an agricultural power, an aspiration which Guyana has had and has articulated for many years and which is even more important now with the impending challenges by climate change to the world’s food supply. Only a few weeks ago I met a delegation from Brazil comprising one of the largest agricultural producers in Roraima who are looking into the possibility of growing rice in Region 9. There are credible reports of other business people looking for lands for soya cultivation. These, of course, have to be accommodated having regard to the lands required in that area for cattle rearing, which is an old and existing industry. There are numerous other areas of business activity which have the potential of development and which are being explored in Boa Vista and in Lethem as we speak (or as I write).
Brazil has long been on a stable growth trajectory and, with the discovery of petroleum, the potential for further, more rapid, growth will increase in the coming decades in geometric proportions. Roraima State, as all other areas of Brazil, will derive positive benefits from the overall growth of the economy and will be propelled forward into the development of its industry and agriculture. Guyana is poised to benefit from those developments, not by catching crumbs, but as a full partner. Guyana has resources that Roraima needs and vice versa and the joint utilization of those resources will benefit all.
Great strides have been made in recent years in strengthening the unity and cooperation between Latin American states and among Latin American and Caribbean countries. It is not necessary here to detail the number of organizations which have been established and which have programmes for the development of cooperation. Guyana plays a full part in these bodies and treats with seriousness its responsibility to contribute to these developments. We were represented at the recent Fifth Summit of the Americas where President Jagdeo was chosen to be the Head to represent Caricom’s positions in its meeting with President Obama. This signal honour was due, apart from President Jagdeo’s leadership role in Caricom, to Guyana’s high profile in the activities of both Latin America and Caricom. It was as a result of these promising developments that our attention began to be attracted or driven southward with increasing urgency.
Our immediate northward engagement was institutionalized as a member of Caricom of which we were a founding member. Over the years, Guyana has not been able to take full advantage of what Caricom has to offer in terms of investment and development. One specific case is that of food production. Caricom imports several billions of US dollars a year in food. Even though Guyana has the capacity to supply a large quantity of that amount, investment in food production to a level sufficient to gain a significant percentage of that market has not been forthcoming. One reason might be that the major, potential food production areas are not serviced by adequate infrastructure to economically bring the produce to market. For this and perhaps other reasons, we have seen little foreign direct investment in food production in Guyana. The government has been doing its best, with some success, to encourage local investment. But a great deal more of investment in food production is required to utilize Guyana’s vast potential. Such investment can be attracted from Brazil.
At the southern border the Takatu Bridge was constructed by the Brazilian Government upon agreement with Guyana. Brazil would not have expended that sum and Guyana would not have agreed unless it was in the interest of both countries. My visit to Boa Vista convinced me that that the Brazil Government would not have funded this project without the urging of the people of Roraima State and unless it was in Brazil’s and Roraima’s interest.
What is that interest? There are several and of different layers. The first is that it is in accordance with a Latin American project to improve road communication between countries in this hemisphere. The second is that engagement between our peoples would be enhanced by increased traffic and easier communication. The third is that it opens up far greater opportunities than currently exists for cross border investment and trade. The fourth is that it brings closer the day when there will be a paved road linking Brazil and Guyana.
The increasing linkages among Latin American countries over the past twenty years, driven by the realization that their futures depend on greater cooperation, have resulted, at least in Brazil’s and Guyana’s case of increasing Brazilian investment in Guyana and movement of people across our borders, particularly Brazilians to Guyana. Brazilian investment in the mining industry is now significant and growing. This took place at the level of miners and though not targeted by the two governments, the people took things in their own hands and moved forward in an industry which was awaiting the introduction of advanced resources and equipment. Aspects of business in the city are now attracting Brazilian attention.
The greatest excitement and most frequent talking point among Brazilians and Guyanese is the possibility of a paved road linking Boa Vista and Georgetown and a deep water harbor in Guyana. This project is based on the perceived need for such a linkage to facilitate the shipping of goods from southern Brazil to North America and Europe. It is argued that such a transit route will be shorter, faster and cheaper than the route now utilized by northern Brazil through southern Brazil. It is believed in Guyana that such a development will bring untold benefits to Guyana and will mark a truly significant step in the history of Guyana’s southern outlook.
The Guyana Government has not made any official pronouncement on the value of a bridge but a pre-feasibility was announced. When this study is concluded, if this has not yet happened, it will provide some basis to arrive at preliminary conclusions.
If such a bridge ever becomes a possibility it will elevate Guyana’s relations with Brazil to a new and higher level. It will make a great deal of Brazil’s goods more competitively priced because of the cheaper shipping costs. It will trigger large scale development in Roraima to take advantage of cheaper transportation costs. It will transform Region 9 and Guyana’s infrastructural profile. It will greatly enlarge Guyana’s economy by encouraging investments of all kinds. It will increase Guyana’s image as a secure home for investments.
Having regard to the potential for Region 9, is this the time for the Government to consider a Region 9 Development Authority to locate in that Region and to coordinate, develop, advise and assist in implementing central government’s strategy for the Region? The disadvantage of creating another bureaucratic layer of authority must be balanced against the potential enhanced effectiveness and efficiency which such an authority could create.
In a statement in the National Assembly arising from the purported ‘opening’ of the Takatu Bridge, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated: “The Takatu Bridge is symbolic of the ever-growing ties and cooperation between the Republic of Guyana and the Federative Republic of Brazil.” There is a foundation for building an ever growing relationship. I felt the passion in Boa Vista. It’s here in Guyana too. It’s growing in the Caribbean with the recent visit of Caribbean business leaders to Boa Vista. Now is the time for action.
Nota del Editor del blog: Al referenciarse a la República Cooperativa de Guyana se deben de tener en cuenta los 159.500 Km2, de territorios ubicados al oeste del río Esequibo conocidos con el nombre de Guayana Esequiba o Zona en Reclamación sujetos al Acuerdo de Ginebra del 17 de febrero de 1966
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