City Hall is hopeful that it will be able to access funding from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) to support environmental management within the city.
The city’s intention was announced at yesterday’s statutory meeting of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) at City Hall.
Town Clerk Royston King told Stabroek News that the M&CC feels that it is eligible to access the fund since it is responsible for sustainably managing the main urban centre in the country.
“City Council is tasked with the responsibility of sustainably managing the city of Georgetown, including managing an effective and efficient solid waste management programme. The council believes that, as a result of their responsibility, they qualify to some extent since many of the activities pursued by persons in the city generate waste that has to be managed by the council. Georgetown is the main administrative centre; all public utilities including GPL are in the city and many of the activities of these utilities contribute to environmental degradation and the council has to manage that,” King explained.
He noted that as the council moves to implement a carefully managed urban forestry programme, it will be contributing to the scrubbing of the atmosphere and keeping the country’s carbon footprint down.
Urban forestry is the careful care and management of tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry advocates the role of trees as a critical part of the urban infrastructure.
King explained that the green spaces which will be created through its urban forestry project is just one part of the proposed program. The council also hopes to implement the use of renewable energy, including solar energy, in all municipal buildings as well as to encourage its use in other city buildings.
Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman, who also has responsibility for “oversight of the management of the nation’s natural resources,” was contacted by the council and via letter expressed his support for the proposed project.
He, however, told Stabroek News that a lot more than a letter is needed before the council will be able to access any of the funding, which is being supervised by the World Bank.
“They have to submit a project proposal among other things. There is a detailed process which must be followed,” he said.
King noted that this project proposal is being formulated with the input of various stakeholders. It is expected to be completed in early 2016.
The GRIF is a fund for the financing of activities identified under the former government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
Under the agreement, which was signed in 2009, Guyana has received performance-based payments based on an independent verification of Guyana’s deforestation and forest degradation rates and progress on REDD+ enabling activities.
Of a possible US$250 million, Guyana has so far earned US$190 million under the agreement, which ends this year. Of this, US$69.8 million has been transferred to the GRIF, while US$80 million has been transferred to the Inter-American Development Bank for the delayed Amaila Falls Hydropower Power Project. Of the US$69.8 million, US$39.4 million remained up to the end of March, according to the latest World Bank report. The rest has been disbursed for various projects. These projects are the Cunha Canal Rehabilitation Project, a Micro and Small enterprise Development project, the Amerindian Land titling project, institutional strengthening of the agencies involved in the implementation of the LCDS and the Amerindian Development fund.
