Dear Editor,
There are more delays in Guyana’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) REDD+ Readiness project since there seems to be little or no movement in the implementation of this project by the IDB in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources. On the occasion of Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary I wrote regarding Amerindians being denied benefits due to slothfulness on the part of the IDB in discharging its responsibilities and hence causing delays in resources being made available to the Amerindian people (approximately US$300,000 is budgeted for the NTC and Indigenous organisations). This placed a dark cloud over Amerindian celebration for Independence celebration.
At the commencement of the 2016 Amerindian Heritage Month activities the NTC chair Mr Joel Fredericks made a passionate plea for this project to start and bring benefits to the Amerindian people of Guyana. From then to now a few administrative activities have been done but as far as I am concerned, no substantive progress has been made on the FCPF project, at least not to the point of discharging benefits to Amerindians. This I believe is very unfortunate, and the Amerindians continue to wait in frustration due to the IDB’s inaction and bureaucracy. I believe the ministry is making every effort to have the project come on stream, so exactly where is the bottle neck? Amerindian hopes are fading every passing day, so much so that it will be another blue Christmas for Amerindians in the fight against climate change and its dangerous consequences.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Persaud
