Georgetown, GINA, January 20, 2004

“These seeming revelations, I use the word guardedly, by the press and this one attributed to the CARICOM Secretary General needs to be taken into context. There is absolutely nothing that is being built, constructed at the CARICOM HQ, that is not based on a design that was given the ‘full monty.’
Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon made this response following criticism levelled against the construction of the Caribbean Community head quarters at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
Yesterday during a tour of the almost completed $1.6B structure CARICOM Secretary General Edwin criticized several aspects of the intended CARICOM headquarters.
The new Caricom Secretariat Headquarters is a gift from Guyana to the Community.
Dr. Luncheon noted that the construction process has progressed quite significantly and criticisms should have been levelled earlier, since the building is being constructed in accordance with the approved design.
“The stakeholders reviewed, revised and then finally adopted the design. It is the most inappropriate time for criticisms to be levelled about what is missing and what is not missing keeping in mind that this design was not snatched out of the air last week or last month or when the tender was awarded for its construction. The design is a result of a consultative process with all and sundry,” Dr. Luncheon said.