– opposition distorting visionary strategy, Persaud counters
Opposition Chief Whip PNCR-1G MP Lance Carberry harshly criticised the government’s drive to a low carbon environment yesterday, saying that long after its introduction there has been no publicly articulated policy on how the country will get there.
The budgetary mention and the actual document are not enough to persuade the public to “buy into” the strategy, Carberry said, as he joined the annual debate in the National Assembly. He said too many questions remain unanswered and that the proponents of the strategy have failed to provide credible arguments to support it.
The issue is about how the country will sustainably lower carbon emissions, Carberry emphasised and he contended that a better articulated national strategy would enable people to understand the vision of the country’s future development along a low carbon path.
Carberry, recalling the furore that erupted when his colleague MP Judith David-Blair spoke about the President, questioned whether he was within line to quote what the President said in the LCDS before he read sections from the document. He argued that the public needs more information on the issue than the smokescreens which have been thrown up. “…This is all the smoke and mirrors of the illusionists bolstered by glib political marketing to convince the world that the administration has a low carbon development strategy. Where is it?” Carberry questioned.
But Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said that Carberry, like many in the opposition outfit, had misread the strategy. He said the document is not a “fly by night” one and argued that the LCDS is a visionary strategy which is going to transform the country. “You are confusing illusion with innovation,” Persaud told Carberry.
Persaud accused the opposition of distorting the strategy and of failing to see the
developmental aspect of it and he declared that the only people who seem to have a problem with the strategy are the “PNCR and its opposition cohorts.” He called the strategy a solid, technical document which focuses more on development than on conservation. “You know what is happening? The opposition is making a deliberate attempt to create the impression that the wheels of development are not turning…,” Persaud said, drawing loud support from his colleagues on the government benches. He challenged Carberry to pay closer attention to what the LCDS entails saying that the government has already won critical support within and outside Guyana.
Carberry shifted the debate to the bauxite industry, which he said has become a victim of the administration. He said that the government has inflicted grievous bodily harm on the industry with its “deeply flawed policies” and he accused the administration of sacrificing bauxite.
The Opposition Chief Whip said government has been handing out reserves to the bauxite companies here, which he contended is not justified. He said companies such as RUSAL have been rewarded with additional reserves for not keeping promises, which included proposals to increase production, build an aluminium refinery and develop hydropower among other things. “None of these things have happened,” he stressed.
Carberry said there is a lack of transparency in the arrangement between government and RUSAL as well as the state and BOSAI. He said there have been no submissions from the state to the Assembly as to the conditions under which the reserves have been handed out. He argued that RUSAL has problems here and internationally and questioned on what basis government has dubbed the company a saviour of the bauxite industry.
He said too that BOSAI is flexing its muscle on the international market to beef up prices and according to him the pricing has impacted on the sale of bauxite from this Linden. He concluded that the Linden operation is currently in a state of disorientation.
Persaud slammed Carberry for speaking on bauxite as if he had a genuine interest, stating that the PNCR had wanted to close down bauxite. He said government did not listen to the whispers about shutting down bauxite and he accused the PNCR of failing to support the investments which are currently being made in the bauxite industry.
Further, Carberry called the Hope Canal project, which is to commence soon, an unnecessary one. He said it will pose serious problems for residents in the immediate area given the current configuration of things. He said too that even government consultants on the projects have pointed to its failings.
However, the Agriculture Minister dismissed the comment saying that the project will go ahead because of the tremendous benefit it will bring to many citizens. “We will start very soon,” he said.