World Bank Director for the Caribbean Yvonne Tsikata has stressed that US$30M deposited by Norway into a fund under the bank’s supervision cannot be released until the green light is given by a steering committee comprised of representatives from Oslo and Georgetown.
In a comment on the Washington Post website on the news item detailing President Bharrat Jagdeo’s flare-up at the World Bank on Tuesday at a forum in Cancun, Mexico, Tsikata said that there had been some misconceptions.
She said “As the World Bank Director for the Caribbean, and as an individual who cares about the environment, I believe that Guyana’s pristine forests are its most valuable natural asset and provide critical environmental services to the world.
“We at the World Bank want to help preserve Guyana’s vast tropical forests and that is the reason why we have agreed to become the Trustee for the GRIF multidonor trust fund (Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund) at the request of Norway and Guyana.
“This is a pioneering pilot effort to pay for environmental services. The agreement, signed October 9, 2010 will be funded initially by US$250 million from Norway, based on independent verification of initiatives to reduce deforestation on Guyana’s part.
“Here is the most glaring misconception: as a trustee we cannot disburse any funds to the implementing partners –such as the UN and the Inter American Development Bank- before getting the green light from a Steering Committee comprised of Norway and Guyana. Up to now, the Committee has not instructed us to transfer any funds. We cannot act faster than the Steering Committee.
“Since this is considered development assistance, Norway wants to make sure that funds are used in the most transparent and effective way. Once transferred to project implementers, GRIF funds must be spent applying adequate financial management, safeguards and controls.
This is why they have asked an institution with solid track record such as the World Bank to become the project’s fiduciary agent.”
President Jagdeo waded into the World Bank at the Cancun meeting blaming it for bureaucracy and delaying the release of the funds. He had made similar accusations in Georgetown and the Bank had also been a target of Finance Minister Ashni Singh over its offices.
Jagdeo told the forum at which Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was present that Oslo’s forest protection agreement with Guyana had been a nightmare and that the first tranche of US$30M was still to be made available to Guyana though the pact had been signed more than a year ago.
Observers had previously pointed out that the preconditions of the Norway deal were significant and that Guyana would be hard-pressed to readily meet these.
