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The Government and Ministry of the Foreign Affairs have mishandled the acceptance of the gift of the Takatu Bridge from the Government and people of Brazil, and reappraised our excellent relations with that nation.
Indeed it may have been inappropriate for the Brazilian authorities to proceed to open the bride, as was the case on Sunday, April 26, 2009, without official involvement of the Government of Guyana. But the reasons which led to their actions need to be understood.
The AFC is reliably informed that the Guyana Government dithered and procrastinated when the signal was sent that the gift was ready to be handed over. It has to be remembered that it is not good etiquette to refuse a gift when offered in good faith, and some arrangements should have been put in place to be present for the “soft” handing over. As a disciplined organisation, the Brazilian military, having completed their assignment, was ready to hand over, and the Guyana Government, should have been in position to accept “take over” of the bridge. We could not expect the Brazilian military to await Guyanese officials’ instructions as to when it was timely to do so.
As it is now, the shutting off of the bridge with a few rusty oil drums will only exacerbate an already bad diplomatic situation and anger and upset the residents of Lethem and Bon Fin who are anxious to use the facility. We implore the government to re-open the bridge immediately, until a suitable date can be fixed for the official opening on the Guyana side.
The AFC urges a redoubling of the diplomatic effort by the Guyana Government to ease the rising tension. Guyana can ill afford to offend its best regional ally over the manner in which their gift to the people of Guyana is being diplomatically mishandled.
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