– but raise concerns with President
PRESIDENT of the Amerindian Peoples’ Association (APA), Sharon Atkinson, regards as misrepresentations, statements in the press which said the organisation has denounced the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Atkinson accompanied APA’s Project Manager, Jean La Rose to a meeting with President Donald Ramotar at the Office of the President, Monday, denying reports made that the organisation was totally against the strategy.
“We are not against the local LCDS,” Atkinson said in an invited comment to the Government Information Agency (GINA).
The LCDS places the country’s large rainforest at the centre of a revolutionary initiative to generate revenue from the sale of forest carbon services to invest in low carbon economy, replete with hydro-electricity, Amerindian land titling, fibre-optic cable technology and the establishment of an international centre for biodiversity research.
The APA had a few reservations about the strategy which Atkinson said were well-known, and during the meeting with President Ramotar, she said those concerns were raised.
Among them were discrepancies with land, mining and logging concessions, education and vulnerability of youths, particularly girls, to negative outside influences.
Atkinson regarded the meeting with President Ramotar as amiable and said the APA is anticipating round table discussions in the future, so that issues affecting the indigenous communities can be ironed out. (GINA)