THE People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) on its 59th anniversary has committed to the Government’s thrust of a “green development path.”Party leader, President David Granger on Wednesday at the party’s headquarters, Congress Place, Sophia, told party members and supporters that the PNCR as part of the coalition government has the duty to fulfil its mandate to maintain Guyana “as the greenest, most beautiful, most bountiful country in the Caribbean.”

“Our mission is to enable all Guyanese to enjoy ‘a good life’ which they deserve as citizens of a green’ state,” the President said.
He noted that the party founded by former President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham is committed to support the Government’s achievement of a “green economy.”
He alluded to rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions, prolonged droughts and floods ,associated with climate change which presents tremendous challenges to the country.
The PNCR Leader reminded supporters that it was under the party’s second leader Desmond Hoyte that a “green” pathway for the country was paved.
In 1989, Hoyte entered into a covenant with the world, Granger said to be an “exemplar of green growth.”
“We made a gift to sustainable development and to the protection of the environment through a generous grant of 371,000 hectares of our pristine forests to be used as an international model for green development,” he said.
President Granger said too that the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development (IICRCD) – located in the heart of Guyana and at the centre of the Guiana Shield – survives and thrives as a testament to Guyana’s commitment to a “green” economy.
EMERGING GREEN STATE
Guyana, he said, is an emerging “green state,” while noting that the country’s natural assets,

its commitment to sustainable development, contribution to countering the adverse effects of climate change and collaboration with the international community in seeking solutions to global threats will ensure a secure future for the people in the pursuit of a “green” economy.

“Guyana, by the grace of God, stands at the centre of the Guiana Shield – one of the world’s last remaining spheres of virgin tropical rainforest. The Guiana Shield spans 2.7 million km², an area larger than Greenland. The Guiana Shield is an incomparable, international asset. Its varied ecosystems of rainforests, rivers, savannahs, swamps, mountains, waterfalls and wetlands support a plethora of rare and endemic floral and faunal species. It contains 15 per cent of the world’s freshwater reserves and is one the world’s most biologically rich and diverse zones.”
The PNCR leader said Guyana’s forests and protected areas help the earth to breathe by sequestering more carbon than that emitted by the country’s human activities; store carbon and restore the balance of oxygen and humidity in the air, providing vital environmental services to all humanity.
The forests and savannahs shelter some of the world’s rare and endemic floral and faunal species; they are the “green” home of giants – including the world’s largest anacondas, ants, anteaters, armadillos, bats, caimans, eagles, fish, jaguars, manatees, monkeys, otters, rodents, snakes, spiders, storks, toads, turtles and vultures, he added.
Meanwhile, President Granger said the PNCR celebrates with Guyana its 50th independence anniversary and noted that it was that party that led the colony of British Guiana into nationhood.
“Guyana, under our Founder-leader, strove to satisfy the needs of our people by expanding public education; by improving public health and public security; by increasing public housing; by introducing social protection; by enhancing social cohesion and by extending public infrastructure and the delivery of public services to the people,” he stated.