— President briefs Amerindian leaders on strategy
THE World Bank representative here yesterday commended Guyana’s consultation process on the Low Carbon Development Strategy, which is centred on transforming the national economy by preserving forests and getting payments from the international community for the service to the global climate change battle.

President Bharrat Jagdeo interacts with elected leaders of Amerindian communities from around the country gathered at the Guyana International Conference Centre yesterday.

“The process is very well managed, well designed, very open and transparent”, World Bank Country Representative for Guyana, Mr. Giorgio Valentini said.

His comment to the Guyana Chronicle came as President Bharrat Jagdeo advanced the consultations with a detailed presentation to elected leaders of Amerindian communities from around the country.

The President, due to leave the country today on several official overseas visits, spent most of yesterday with the Amerindian leaders at the five-day National Toshaos Council meeting at the International Convention Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. The meeting ends today.

Valentini who was at the session with a visiting mission from the World Bank, said they have been to some of the consultations with stakeholders and found that everybody was speaking “up their minds – positive or negative.”

Valentini said the World Bank mission is here basically to approve Guyana for a grant of about US$3.6M to prepare the conditions for the country to participate in the carbon market through the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) scheme.

He explained that the grant is for assessing Guyana’s management of the forests and what it can do to avoid deforestation so that investors in the carbon market can better make decisions for investing.

President Jagdeo told the Amerindian leaders that issues raised in the consultations around the country are most pertinent to their communities.

An Amerindian representative makes a point during yesterday’s interactive session with President Jagdeo. (Cullen Bess Nelson photos)

He said that international organizations involved must work through the elected representatives of the indigenous peoples, adding that while non-governmental organizations are important, elected Amerindian leaders and their councils are the front line and cannot be ignored.

He stressed the true participatory nature of the process, noting that the Steering Committee on climate change meets him once weekly and four Amerindian organizations have been invited to sit on it.

Mr. Jagdeo also announced that a representative of the National Toshaos Council will be invited to sit on the Steering Committee.

“We are trying to use our forests to assist with climate change”, he stressed, noting that forests were excluded from the United Nations Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012 and countries like Guyana are arguing that these must be included in the successor agreement to be reached in Copenhagen, Denmark in December.

Inclusion of forests in the Copenhagen agreement will add greater value to the resource, he pointed out.

The President said all Amerindian titled lands are excluded from the draft LCDS model as well as 10 per cent of the land mass that has the largest conservation value.

He recalled that the estimated annual loss to Guyana from preserving its forests in the climate change cause is US$580M.

If the international community responds to Guyana’s case for payment for preserving its forests, this is additional money that can be used for national development, he explained.

But he stressed: “We are not museum pieces. We are people with dreams”.

“What we are doing is a business, a trade…it’s time now that the world pays us for this service”.

Reiterating that Guyana’s offer is not charity, the President said this country’s strategy will have to be adjusted if the expected funds do not come from the Copenhagen accord.

“We have to prepare for the post-Kyoto period”, Mr. Jagdeo said, adding that accelerating the demarcation of Amerindian lands and transforming the village economy are two of his major priorities.

The President also stressed that the current consultations are more about informing people and Amerindian communities are not required to opt in to the draft model.

“There’s no pressure for you to do this in the short term”, he stated.

During a sustained question and answer period, Mr. Jagdeo, among other issues announced that some documents on the LCDS are being translated into five Amerindian languages so that more people can properly understand and make decisions on the strategy.

Retired Army Brigadier Joe Singh, CEO of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, during the session also outlined plans by the company to improve its ICT services around the country, including in Amerindian communities.

He said putting down additional facilities is expensive but the company is not looking for a return on its investment and sees this more as part of its corporate and social responsibility.