THE Amerindian Development Fund will benefit from an infusion of $6M (G$1.2B). This tranche is part of the US$70 million that Norway has paid into the Guyana REDD + and Investment Fund (GRIF) for Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
The clinching of an agreement between the Government of Guyana (GOG) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will see 166 community development proposals come on stream in another few weeks. The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) government, as promised, has delivered to the indigenous people of Guyana on an historic United Nations International Day of Indigenous Peoples. It was a significant and historical event for the Indigenous People as they had worked hard to arrive at a number of projects to lift the standards of living for the people of their community and villages.
Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, made a presentation to the Toshaos and other members and executives of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) at the Guyana Convention Centre yesterday. She said that this was a remarkable achievement for the people of Guyana and more so the Indigenous people.
She described the signing ceremony as an historic moment for the people and urged them to make the best of every opportunity within this development fund which is set to work in the communities of submitted CDPs.
The minister noted that this was a gift and made high recognition of the Guyana government and the Kingdom of Norway for their interest in such a programme.
She recalled that community leaders, residents, and villagers summed up a number of projects with the intention to lift the livelihood of the people of the respective communities.
In attendance at the signing ceremony were President Donald Ramotar, Ministers of the Government, members of the diplomatic corps, UNDP resident representative Ms. Khadjia Musa, Shyam Nokta, head of the office for Climate Change and other distinguished invitees.
Ms. Khadjia Musa, UNDP Resident Representative, made specific mention of the initial process of this fund where his organisation received over one hundred and fifty comments recommending the green light for such a project.
She noted that the close working network established between the Ministries of Amerindian Affairs and Finance brought success to the project. This manifests that the government seeks to develop the lives of the indigenous people.
The UNDP Representative disclosed that a technical team will be set up to assist each project from its commencement to completion and is expecting clear accountability and transparency during the period of execution.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, indicated how privileged he was to be a part of this historic moment in celebrating World Indigenous Day with a significant achievement for the government of Guyana for the indigenous people.
He noted that he was present at a number of villages and community making sure that their leaders understood clearly the process and program in which they were getting involved.
Today he indicated that success has come to the people and the Toshaos can now return to their villages with good news to their people.
Dr. Singh noted that the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) showed that the people and the government have worked hard, and  there is no proper remuneration to the indigenous people over the number of years for managing the forest of Guyana.
He noted that former President Bharrat Jagdeo saw the need for a natural resource management programme and as such the protection of the standing forest and its value to the LCDS programme.
In recognition, he made mention of the people of the Kingdom of Norway and the Inter – American Development Bank who showed extreme interest in this programme.
He expressed thanks to all the hard working staff of the various ministries before commencing the signature ceremony.