FORMER President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has joined with other Members of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) Multi Stakeholder Steering Committee (MSSC) in issuing a passionate appeal to the parliamentary opposition parties not to proceed with its proposed cuts to projects that can affect  implementation of the LCDS. The MSSC comprises representatives from Amerindian groups, miners, forestry, youth, women, non-governmental bodies, government agencies and individual activists.
The Committee, in a statement yesterday, said: “We are concerned with the proposal by the parliamentary opposition that the budgetary allocations for the LCDS would be cut. Hence we are calling on all our country’s politicians to act in Guyana’s best interest by supporting the LCDS budgetary allocations, and  to invest in a strategy which will deliver transformative benefits for our country.”  

The following is the full text of the statement issued yesterday by the MSSC on the proposed 2013 LCDS Budget cuts:

As members of the LCDS Multi Stakeholder Steering Committee, we have worked over the years to advance our country’s transition to a low carbon development path. We are proud that Guyana is a world leader in creating a society which combines increased prosperity and development for all Guyanese with a transition to a low carbon, resilient economy based on renewable energy, sustainable land use and maintaining our forests.

We are proud of our role in getting the LCDS to a point where our early efforts are transitioning into real results for Guyana and its peoples.
In particular, we have supported action by the Governments of Norway and Guyana to put in place all the critical elements of the Guyana-Norway partnership on forest climate services, which is the second largest partnership of its kind in the world.
Our hard work is now in the process of materialising in particular, we note that:

** The Amaila Falls project is the single largest foreign investment in our country’s history, and will commence construction this year  – bringing cheaper, more reliable electricity to Guyanese homes and businesses from 2017.

**  Over 11,000 Amerindian households have received solar home systems from the government, bringing many of them electricity for the first time.

**  Economic sectors targeted in the LCDS are growing rapidly. For example, the business process outsourcing sector has more than doubled its employment since the LCDS was launched, and ecotourism in the Rupununi is growing at more than 20% per annum.

**  The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has initialised Phase I of a US$10 million programme of support for micro and small businesses, targeting the creation of 2,200 low carbon jobs within two years.

**  The government has worked with Amerindian communities to address all but 12 land-titling requests. These requests along with those for demarcation and extension will be addressed  within the next three years under the Amerindian Land Titling Project.

** 166 Amerindian communities/villages have created low carbon community development plans, and 27 of those start implementation this year, creating jobs and economic development in areas such as manufacturing and ecotourism.

**  Guyana has the world’s lowest deforestation rate, the world’s second largest Interim REDD+ partnership, and has earned US$115 million in payments for forest climate services – more than any other country in the world, except Brazil.
** Guyana is on track to be the world’s most digitally inclusive society by 2016, with nearly 27,000 laptops distributed to families across Guyana who would otherwise be excluded from the ICT revolution, and more than 60,000 laptops and training still to come.

** Work is about to start on a plan for a US$100 million “once-in-a-generation” investment in protecting Guyana’s homes and farms from flooding.

Taken together, these measures are for the benefit of all Guyanese. We have worked, as Guyanese for many years to get to the point where all these initiatives have become realities, and any halt will be detrimental to all Guyanese.
We are concerned with the proposal by the parliamentary opposition that the budgetary allocations for the LCDS would be cut. Hence, we are calling on all our country’s politicians to act in Guyana’s best interest by supporting the LCDS budgetary allocations to invest in a strategy which will deliver transformative benefits for our country.

MSSC Members
Bharrat Jagdeo – Former President of Guyana
Minister Robert – Persaud Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment
Minister Pauline Sukhai – Ministry of Amerindian Affairs
Minister Ashni Singh – Ministry of Finance
Shyam Nokta – Office of the President
Kapil Mohabir – Office of the President
Yvonne Pearson – Ministry of Amerindian Affairs
Alfred King – Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports
Indarjit Ramdass – Environmental Protection Agency (EPA
James Singh – Guyana Forestry Commission
Pradeepa Bholanath – Guyana Forestry Commission
Derrick John – National Toshaos Council (NTC)
Edward Shields – Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association
Ronald Webster – Private Sector Commission
Peter Persaud – The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG)
Pamela English – The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG)
Ashton Simon – The National Amerindian Development Foundation (NADF)
Rommel Simon – The National Amerindian Development Foundation (NADF)
Colin Klautky – Guyanese Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP)
Michael Williams – North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB)
Hymawattie Lagan – Women’s Affairs Bureau
Hilbertus Cort – Forest Producers Association
Joe Singh – Individual Capacity
Annette Arjoon-Martins   – Individual Capacity