– lashes out at groupseeking to block Norway funds
President Jagdeo fired at the small group that made a recent attempt to subvert efforts by Guyana to benefit from forest-based incentives through a correspondence to the Norwegian government. The Head of State was at the time speaking at a joint press conference with Minister of Environment and International Development of Norway, Erik Solheim,
The Head of State vowed to hold a separate press conference to address the issues in detail as he believes Thursday night’s press conference today was not the forum for such, but noted that the group has consistently made attempts to undermine the Guyana/Norway agreement.
He said Guyana has committed to the highest level of safeguards as with every other project.
The small group that issued the letter called on the Norwegian Government to withhold funds to Guyana citing that there are shortcomings which they identified with the GRIF.     
The Office of Climate Change responded defending the Guyana/ Norway agreement and the process established to access the funds, and criticised the group for its woeful short sightedness on facts about the partnership.
Minister Solheim was scheduled to engage members of the government, opposition and civil society yesterday for intense discussions as he continues his appraisal of Guyana REDD Investment Fund (GRIF).
Asked by members of the press about measures guarding against corruption, Minister Solheim said it is a topic that will be on the agenda, but noted that they are not specific to Guyana.
The minister assured that anti-corruption measures will be applied, but made it clear that there will be no attempt to interfere with the country’s management of the financial resources from its donor.
During a joint press conference with Minister Solheim Thursday, following the announcement of release of the second tranche of Norway funds into the GRIF this year, President Jagdeo said his administration on several occasions outlined the criteria for using the funds after opposition parties had raised concerns in the past.
He explained that the first order of business was to ensure that the funds received from Norway were reflected in the revenue of the country through the 2011 National Budget that was presented in February.
Secondly, the administration rolled out, in Parliament, the list of projects that will be funded from the first tranche of US$30M from Norway. These included the Amaila Falls hydropower project, the titling of Amerindian lands and solar panels for all Amerindian communities, and a grant to develop projects for each Amerindian village. (GINA)