AT last, it has happened! News from Washington reports that the first tranche of US$30M, part of the US$250M agreed on via a Memorandum of Understanding between Norway and Guyana, is available whereby the latter kingdom will compensate Guyana for its forests. This sum is being processed through the established Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF).
What a victory for the nation and its peoples! Made possible through the vision and foresight of His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo. The moment must be his to savour! His tireless advocacy has paid off. The nation has benefitted from his wisdom. I remembered the skeptics, doubters via their many missives and columns – they all made light of the proposal to make Guyana’s forest climate services reap economic dividends that would be invested in a low carbon economy. Many wished a failing of this pioneering concept. The rest is now history. The doubters have been defeated! The nation has won!  

Guyana’s onward march to modernisation is more assured than ever. As such, a sum will be executed towards the premier national development project of the Amaila Falls, and development of our Amerindian peoples, among the priorities. This nation’s long-term social and economic development is now irreversible. Sorry Jeremiahs!

When the final history of this nation will be written, President Jagdeo will be credited for, among other things, moving this nation from a backwater economy onto the highway of modernisation.

The credibility of this nation has now been fully restored in the eyes of the international community.