The PPP once declared the forests are Guyana’s most important resource. That party then pivoted on crude oil, even while pursuing its amorphous Low Carbon Development Strategy. The APNU+AFC government is also keen to benefit from oil extraction. There is also a lot of effort placed on recovering smuggled gold, itself another manifestation of the natural resource curse. However, any serious development plan (and strategy to tackle the runaway crime rate) has to shift youth labour away from small and medium scale gold mining.
In 2011 the AFC stated in its Action Plan that Guyanese people (at home and overseas) with their embodied skills and education are the most important asset. These days the AFC appears neutered or merely lacks conviction. While in Brooklyn last year, President Granger called on Guyanese to return home to “invest in change…