From next week, the World Bank’s Country Representa-tive for Guyana, Giorgio Valentini will no longer be based here but in Jamaica.
Valentini takes up duties in Jamaica on March 15 and remains the bank’s country representative for Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and now Jamaica.
Speaking with Stabroek News, Valentini said the move was communicated to the governments of Guyana and Jamaica two weeks ago. The bank’s representative in Jamaica is moving on.
Valentini explained that the move is one that is happening in all the regions where the bank operates and the institution has been working towards this. He said that because of budgetary constraints, the World Bank cannot keep a country representative in every country. “The working staff will stay. Nothing will change,” he added. He stressed that the operations here will remain the same.
The World Bank office here had been bitterly attacked by Finance Minister Ashni Singh in June last year. He had accused the bank’s staff here of having “one of the largest appetites for publicity and self-promotion” and seeking to increase their “creature comforts” by relocating to “a grand former colonial residence opposite one of the city’s most fashionable cafés”.
Said Singh: “I would be much happier if the country office of the Bank expended more effort to increase the Bank’s work and its development impact in Guyana, instead of trying to increase their own visibility and creature comforts. Of all our development partners, the Bank has one of the smallest project portfolios, but one of the largest offices and, it would appear, one of the largest appetites for publicity and self-promotion, even if only recently acquired. Guyana still faces considerable development challenges, and we need the assistance of the World Bank, we don’t need grandstanding by their staff in country,”
Valentini has been with the World Bank since 2002. According to his profile on the bank’s website, in his capacity as country representative Valentini supports the design and development of climate change and carbon finance programmes for Guy-ana, and liaises with clients on behalf of project teams. The Country Representative also develops a relationship with Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, and strengthens coordination with Caricom and the donor community based here.
