Imperative that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provide continuous updates on the ongoing ICJ hearings

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently holding public hearings in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899, on the GuyanaVenezuela border issue. This takes place from Thursday 17 to Tuesday 22 November 2022, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. As one of the most important issues of national interest, relating to territorial integrity, one would expect the Ministry responsible, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to take a more proactive approach to keep the public informed.

Unfortunately, at the time of penning this letter, neither the Foreign Ministry website nor Facebook pages provided any details on the ongoing hearings. It also raises questions that the Foreign Minister, Hugh Todd, is not a member of the team that is representing Guyana at the ICJ. This situation begs to ask the question, is it due to the Foreign Minister’s lack of presence on the team that the Ministry neglects to provide awareness on the ongoing hearing?

In this technological age, everyone and their grandmother is on Facebook, why is the Foreign Ministry not disseminating the coverage of the hearings? The public is quick to see statements on matters of national embarrassment such as the Charandass fiasco and the Taiwan saga. Here again, we see poor leadership coming from Takuba Lodge and President Ali needs to take note of matters such as these and the priorities of that Ministry.

The ongoing Guyana-Venezuela hearings are of pertinent importance to all Guyanese, it is gravely remiss of the Foreign Ministry to neglect awareness on the matter. Resources such as social media are free and readily available for the Ministry to disseminate coverage of the hearings. We demand better of our public offices! ESSEQUIBO IS WE OWN. One people, One Nation One Destiny.