Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday questioned the potential outcomes of the government’s Green State Development Strategy (GSDS), while saying it would be discontinued if his party is elected into office at the next elections.
“This is an environmental strategy superimposed on the country that we, the taxpayers, will have to pay for… How many jobs have they created besides planting some palms on the East Coast?” Jagdeo yesterday asked as he comparing the GSDS to his party’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
“The LCDS was an economic strategy that sought to move Guyana to prosperity and our people to greater wealth and benefits using a decarboniser towards cleaner energy and a greener pathway…this is a ceremonial government and you will get a ceremonial GSDS,” he added.
Speaking at a news conference, Jagdeo said that once elected into office the PPP/C would not continue with the GSDS as he does not believe it is beneficial to the people. “I have made it clear that the PPP will scrap this approach…,” he said.
He pointed to a GSDS public service advertisement, which states that jobs were created, and he asked that persons compare it with the LCDS and judge for themselves which was better for this country. “The GSDS would have to be funded from taxpayers and oil money but we identified ways of using the LCDS to make money; it was a generator of funds. They promised 100% renewable by 2025 but have not yet identified a single new project to make this reality. Lofty ideas but when it comes down to specifics for delivery, it is absent. [It is] zero!” he stressed.
“We had specific projects to decarbonise the sector…we had 17 projects and among them Amerindian land titling, a diversity centre…,” he added. Jagdeo said the approach taken by government is flawed and persons will realise that the reality of the GSDS will be that it brings “very little to the people.”
The Ministry of the Presidency has said the GSDS will be “a living example of Guyana’s commitment to the planet” and will also ensure the sustainable growth and economic well-being of the country’s population, while guiding Guyana’s national development policies for the next 20 years.
The eleventh and final advisory committee meeting of the GSDS was held this week, after months of consultations.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of the Presidency said the Department of Environment is currently working on the third component of the GSDS—the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework—and that the policy document is scheduled to be launched in September.
“We were cognisant of ensuring that developing the Green State Development Strategy, that it was a document developed by Guyanese. This document was not developed easily; it required the effort, time and energy of you [the stakeholder] and provide for the development of people and the improvement of the environment and moving forward we want to ensure that our M&E [Monitoring and Evaluation] framework is aligned with Budget 2020,” Director of the Department of Environment and Co-chair of the GSDS Advisory Committee, Ndibi Schwiers, was quoted as saying at the final advisory committee meeting on Tuesday.
Sonya Roopnauth, Co-Chair of the GSDS Advisory Committee and Director of the Office of the Budget, noted that the GSDS will guide the input of the national budget process, and as such, the development of the strategy is just the beginning of the hard work that will go into realising the plan.
Questions have been raised about the compatibility of the Green State plan with Guyana’s intention to extract large quantities of oil offshore beginning early next year and continuing for perhaps the next two decades.
