Foreign Ministry taps into Elisabeth Harper’s unique skill set

GINA, GUYANA, Wednesday, December 29, 2016

The former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Elisabeth Harper has been contracted by the Ministry, according to Minister Carl Greenidge.

Addressing the media today, during the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s year-end press conference, the Minister explained that the former high-level Ambassador possessed a “unique skill set” which is needed at the Ministry.

The Minister explained that, “As Director General, and as a member of staff for a number of years, for many years standing, she had worked closely on the matters pertaining to sovereignty and the documentation, with our Ministries.”

The Foreign Affairs Minister noted that in addition to the Ministry’s high staff turnover, and as a result of problems with record storage and maintenance, “staffers have been challenged to carry out policies as effectively as they should.”

He cited as an example, the fact that the Ministry has documentation which needs to be understood and catalogued. “I am able to point to you many rooms that have a lot of documents. Few people in here, if any, can tell you what the documents are. So that is one side, and that is why we have been trying to utilise the knowledge of those who would have worked here in the past.”

Minister Greenidge added that due the delicacy of sovereignty issues, the Ministry has also been utilising Harper to assist in that area. This, he pointed out, is ongoing and “it will continue.”

Harper was close to retirement, when she stepped down as Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be the running mate of PPPC presidential candidate, Donald Ramotar, prior to the 2015 General Elections.

The career diplomat served with distinction as Guyana’s Ambassador to Caricom and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a number of decades.