Opposition leader Brigadier (ret’d) David Granger is calling on the government to bring out a comprehensive national environment strategy, in light of what he says is the adverse effects of climate change and man-made damage here.
While countries worldwide celebrated World Environment Day on Tuesday, Granger said that Guyana’s biggest problems are those of solid waste management, coastal zone conservation, annual flooding, damage to rivers and forests by unregulated mining and logging practices and its excessive dependence on fossil fuels to the neglect of alternative energy such as wind, water and solar-generated electrical power, according to a press release from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.
Granger contended that the government’s much vaunted Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) is insufficient to sustain development amidst the country’s current environmental challenges.
He also said that the government must open its eyes to the country’s predicament and promulgate a strategy to protect the population from hazards and to preserve the environment from further degradation, the release concluded.
He also reiterated the Amerindian adage that ‘trees hold up the sky’ to members of the Environmental Community Health Organisation as he congratulated the organisation for its recent ‘tree-planting’ exercise in observance of World Environment Day.
The opposition leader asserted also that Guyana needs a coherent approach to what he called the five E’s – Environmental education, Enforcement of regulations, Ecological consciousness by all, Energy that is renewable and Economic exploitation of mineral, timber and tourism resources in a sustainable manner, the release stated.
In the meantime, Granger called on the ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Environment to distribute plants and seeds to communities in all ten administrative regions to help to regenerate Guyana’s depleted flora and forests.
