The members of the Low Carbon Development Strategy Multi-stakeholder Steering Committee (MSSC) say that the recent budget cuts have halted their work and put at risk low carbon projects that would benefit all Guyanese.
The MSSC in a statement Monday said also that it could “jeopardize our mutual agreement with the Government of Norway from which Guyana is expected to receive up to US$250M by 2015.”
And it could also result in the turning away of hundreds of millions of US dollars in foreign direct investment for this country, the MSSC added.
The MSSC said they had “observed with dismay the reduction by the combined opposition of the 2012 budget for green projects under Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy from approximately $18 billion to one $1.”
The opposition, APNU and AFC have stated that the money which was cut is money that has not yet been received by the government. They have argued that the money should have been catered for by way of a conditional appropriation. They also pointed out that in the previous year’s budget, provision was also made for a large sum of the Norwegian money but that the money was never received.
The committee statement noted that from the inception of the LCDS several years ago, the members of the MSSC have been integrally involved in the entire process and find it “especially shocking that these cuts were made to LCDS projects which were subject to a nationwide consultation process and for which the people of Guyana expressed their support.”
According to the MSSC, much hard work and dedication have been invested to reach the stage where the LCDS is being implemented and “it is disheartening that these cuts have halted our work and put at risk LCDS projects that would benefit all Guyanese.”
Meanwhile, the MSSC has identified the following projects which they said will be affected:
* The Amaila Falls Hydro Project which will see the removal of Guyana’s energy-related emissions and bring on-line a cheaper and more reliable source of energy that will thereby reduce end-user tariffs in Guyana;
* The Amerindian Development Fund intended to channel funds directly to Amerindian communities to support economic development through community-identified priority projects that are identified in Community Development Plans which were put together by dozens of communities over recent years;
* Amerindian Land Titling intended to fast track the titling and demarcation process for all eligible villages and communities and ultimately strengthen land tenure rights and improve long-term community development.
* Micro and Small Enterprise Development Programme which seeks to address the major bottlenecks in the development of a robust entrepreneurial and small business sector in Guyana;
* The Cunha Canal rehabilitation which is the first adaptation project under the LCDS to enable a significant increase in the canal’s discharge capacity and contribute to reducing the risks of the embankment overtopping and the flooding of areas along the East Bank of the Demerara River, and thereby protect the livelihoods of thousands of farmers as well as reducing the threat to hundreds of thousands of people;
* The Centre for Biodiversity Studies to be based at the University of Guyana, which would allow for investment in infrastructure, personnel, facilities and equipment to develop a self-sustaining world class research centre;
* The Institutional Strengthening programme that will enhance national institutional capacity for Guyana to address climate change and implement the LCDS;
* The hinterland electrification project which will see the installation of 11,000 solar home systems in 150 communities;
* The One Lap Top Per Family project which seeks to engender the building of a knowledge based society through the free distribution of 90,000 Laptop computers to low income earners, as Guyana charts an ambitious new development frontier path with information Communication Technologies (ICT); and
* E-Governance Fibre Optic Cable project which will serve as the backbone of a larger ICT strategy as the government seeks to improve and lower the cost of access to information and essential government services.
The MSSC asserted that the actions by the combined opposition in the National Assembly “are not in the national interest, are not reflective of the collective views and desires of the majority of the people of Guyana, and do not augur well for the developmental aspiration of the country.”
In that light, the MSSC is therefore urging the combined opposition “to rethink its strategy so as to allow continuity of the LCDS initiative,” the statement concluded.
Among the members of the MSSC are President Donald Ramotar, Former President Bharrat Jagdeo, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud, Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai, and Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy, as well as representatives of the Women’s Affairs Bureau, Guyana Forestry Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Guyana Geology and Mines, Private Sector Commission, and Amerindian Associations, among others.
