Global financial crisis…
ECONOMIC issues of concern to the region, particularly the global financial crisis and climate change, dominated discussions on the first day of the 34th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference being held in Guyana.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Ralph Ramkarran told the Guyana Chronicle that Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Dr Jennifer Webster also made a presentation on public spending and that was discussed.

The three-day deliberations began Monday, at Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, involving delegates from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK).

Ramkarran, who spoke at a reception hosted for visiting parliamentarians, in Public Buildings, Brickdam, Georgetown, said the talks on the global financial meltdown surrounded the challenges and required responses.

He reported that the reason for the crisis was identified and, by consensus, it was agreed that a regulatory mechanism be established to prevent a recurrence.

Ramkarran said the importance of a unified approach by the region to tackle the situation and the need for financial institutions to advance additional monies without strings attached, to help participating countries, were acknowledged.

When strings are attached, we are unable to access them because they are too burdensome to repay,” he observed.

Ramkarran emphasised that the global financial downturn has severely affected the bauxite industries of Guyana and Jamaica, the latter being the harder hit of the two countries.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds spoke extensively on climate change and the draft Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

Ramkarran said Mr. Hinds presented only basic elements of the policy but arrangements have been made for copies of it to be available for the delegates to take back to their respective countries.

He said ideas for the advancement of wind and hyrdo power and solar energy came out of the climate change discussion.

Apart from those, he said sea level rise, the potential invasion of salt water and the effect on farming and the development of technology to address the mentioned challenges were examined.

Ramkarran said a final decision has not been made on the matters discussed but a delegate expressed the view that the region should unite and pool its collective wisdom to resolve some of the problems.

The Speaker maintained, though, that the exchanges were very friendly and open and the presentations of a very high quality and standard.

We all understood that we came from the same region, we have the same problems and we will swim or sink together, either in the Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean Sea,” Ramkarran remarked.