–so as to effectively address the issue

TRANSPORT and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn, declaring that the sea defences of Guyana underlie the economic and social development of the country, has called for all stakeholders to better interpret Guyana’s response to climate change in a collaborative effort, so as to allow for compromise with unhindered progress.

Minister Benn made these comments during a ceremonial commemoration of World Environment Day (WED) 2014, on Thursday, at the Kingston Seawalls in Georgetown. That activity was hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.

The minister said citizens of Guyana must be able to translate commitments into direct actions, and work on all sides to ensure that “we don’t have the kind of political and economic collapse” which prevent this work from

going on in an uninterrupted manner.

Benn expressed that, in recognition of the day, with a message of “raising our voices, not the sea level”, and in the face of unrelenting budget cuts, Guyanese have to be able to work together and prove to themselves that they don’t fall in a state of disarray, which prevents us from completing urgent and necessary tasks to achieve the result of protecting the coast, protecting the population, and protecting our economic and social development.

According to Benn, Guyana is recognised as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), and that in itself is a challenge, since we should similarly recognise our status of being below sea level.

He expounded that Guyana would perhaps be another two metres below sea level in another one hundred or so years, and possibly, in the distant future, there would be some concern as to whether we would be able to continue to exist and to occupy the coast, which holds the largest percentage of our economic endeavours, (as well as) the greatest amount of our population.

He said that having recognised the issue, we must now translate our recognition into actions at the levels of the Government agencies in respect of the programmes which have been undertaken with support from the European Union (EU), United Nations (UN), and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), which have collectively funded Guyana’s more than $1.9B of sea defence efforts for this year alone.

Minister Benn said, “Our people need to recognise the change we want to see with respect to climate change, global warming and rising sea levels, in hopes of mitigating against the footprint of the impact which we ourselves have left”. He added, “We must work together to see how we can prevent negative contribution to these problems that persist, since it is imperative that we move beyond the individual responsibility and “synergise our efforts” in working across agencies, among skilled groups, and in the communities with respect to this very critical and important network.

CHALLENGES
Benn bemoaned the fact that at the beginning of his tenure as Minister, the cost of constructing one linear metre of sea defence stood firmly at US$3,500. He said, “We have been working to reduce this cost per linear metre to some US$2,500.”

He further noted that this is the reason why coastal and environmental programmes, specifically in regard to the Mangrove Restoration project, were introduced to offset the costs of these sea defence structures and incorporate a more comprehensive understanding of coastal hydrodynamics.

The Minister said the general risk which we face other than insipient sea level rises continues, and in addressing this, a team of engineers will soon be dispatched to the Louisiana Coast on the Mississippi River in the United States of America, in order to have a better understanding of the challenges which Guyana faces, and how best methods could be employed to raising sea levels.

Administering a dose of reality, Minister Benn was keen to note that, considering the current environmental conditions of Guyana, there are two things which would probably be said about Guyanese. Firstly, that “we are a nasty people”, and secondly, that “we are an unsafe people”.

He added, “If we accept those two things and establish them as challenges for moving forward, we will go a long way towards mitigating, [and] towards preventing the challenges, interruptions, [and] mishaps.

He said that the cost attached to simply moving from the coastland to occupy highland further south outweighs the benefits of such a move, because the higher lands are not as fertile as the coastland, and abandoning the fertile lands and agricultural sector of the coast outweighs the benefits of moving to higher ground.

Minister Benn said that, as a nation, Guyana has an opportunity to improve the current sea defence structures and wage the struggle against the effects of global warming, climate change and rising sea levels.

(By Derwayne Wills)