DIRE CONSEQUENCES
– will attend budget cuts
LAND issues for the Amerindian people are not likely to be solved, and the enhancement of the Amerindian Development Fund would not become a reality, should the proposed cuts by the opposition be approved. So said Chairperson of the National Toshao’s Council, Yvonne Pearson, in her reaction to the opposition ‘A Partnership for National Unity’s’ (APNU) proposed cuts to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) projects at a sum of $18B in the 2012 Budget.
Pearson, also the Toshao of Mainstay/Whyaka in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), said she could not understand how the opposition could see those cuts as beneficial to the Amerindian people.
“They not only affect Amerindian people, but their demarcation of land as well; land issues would persist should these cuts be approved. I hope common sense would prevail,” she told the Chronicle in an invited comment yesterday.
Pearson referred to the proposed cuts as a hindrance to development, citing developmental projects ongoing in various Amerindian villages which could be stalled with lack of money.
“It would seriously affect us,” she observed, as she recalled how the very politicians who promised the Amerindian people many things, including solutions to their land issues, are the same ones who are proposing cuts.
“So I am appalled that they are talking about cuts now. I’m sad and disappointed at them. I really can’t figure what the mission of the opposition is,” Pearson said.
Advisor to the President and Head of the Office of Climate Change, Shyam Nokta, has also slammed the proposed cuts by APNU.
“I think…this is very disturbing. When we started, we had broad-based and maybe one of the most extensive national consultations, and received widespread national support and also international support, which led to the agreement with Norway. We have been implementing this agreement, and to date have earned US$70M to support the LCDS,” Nokta told the Chronicle.

This move by APNU to cut the LCDS is worrying, and is cause for concern. It begs the question: ‘Where is the rationality behind this, especially when you look at what the LCDS projects are designed to do’…,” Nokta posited.
He alluded to support to be given to the Amaila Falls hydro project and also some other projects identified for support, like the Amerindian Development Fund, providing support to small and micro enterprise development.
“A range of LCDS projects are going to be affected by this very surprising move by the opposition…and for it to receive this kind of drastic response, is indeed cause for concern. We have to look and hope that good sense prevails, since this will have a significant impact on our people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) said it has noted the Order Paper issued on the proposed amendments to the Office of the President’s Budget.
“Having been painstakingly involved in the development of the LCDS, and being an original member of the multi-stakeholders’ forum that has contributed time and effort over the years to the development of the LCDS nationally and internationally, we unequivocally urge that consensus in Parliament be found regarding the projects that will benefit from the LCDS funds,” a statement from the PSC said yesterday.
It said successive Chairpersons of the PSC sitting at the multi-stakeholders’ forum have seen the wisdom and long-term benefits of funding the Amaila falls hydro project and its future developmental opportunities for the private sector, which is now plagued by the high cost of electricity.
“The first wave of escalating electricity costs was buffered by private diesel generating sets owned by the private sector, and in order to be competitive, the Government of Guyana has had to grant duty-free fuel to a number of sectors. The second wave was buffered by some companies utilizing Bunker C fuel, the cost of which is now growing ominously close to the cost of subsidized industrial power from GPL,” the statement said.
The commission said the future of Guyana’s private sector power needs depends on the ability to have a stable cost for electricity applied to the productive sector, and Amaila Falls in the PSC’s view, provides for this.
“It will make Guyana a truly desirable investment destination, and will add an important element of regional and extra-regional competitiveness to existing local industries. Land demarcation efforts, the Amerindian Development Fund and other noble efforts by the project design experts handling the LCDS finances are worthy of a positive review in Parliament, as continuous efforts have brought Guyana closer to accessing these funds,” the PSC said.