STAYING true to the theme of building a diversified ‘green’ economy, significant provisions have been made within Budget 2017 to focus on advancing Guyana’s Green Agenda in the areas of Natural Resources, Agriculture and the Department of the Environment.With President Granger’s focus on the development of a ‘green’ State, Minister of Finance, Mr. Winston Jordan, has put forward several recommendations aimed at further protecting the environment. Among those measures are tax exemptions to businesses involved in the importation of ‘green’ equipment, such as items for wind and solar energy investments, water recycling facilities, and waste disposal facilities.

Government has also allocated almost $1 billion to implement a series of renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects, following the charge given by the Head of State for the public sector to lead the way in the transition towards greater renewable energy use. These interventions will be channelled through, and managed by, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA).

The renewable energy programme for 2017 would entail the installation of solar photovoltaic systems on the rooftops of 64 government buildings; the installation of the first-ever large-scale solar farm, at Mabaruma in Region One; replacement of inefficient lights and installation of 10,427 LED lamps and 3,766 occupancy sensors in government buildings, as well as installation of 360 energy efficient outdoor lights.

President Granger has said that Guyana has more advantages than any other Caribbean country in regard to opportunities in the renewable energy sector. With such potential, the President said, Government is therefore working to ensure that these advantages are utilised.

At the unveiling ceremony of the solar powered Head Office of Demerara Bank, the President said his Administration would promote a clean environment; one in which children can grow up understanding the importance of protecting the environment. “We have over a hundred sites in this country from which we could generate hydropower, and if you go to Iwokrama and you sat on the bank of that river, apart from the Black Caiman — which will come to find out if you are trying to put your toes in the water — you will see the rate at which the Essequibo River, our great Essequibo River, is moving; and as long as the river is moving, you will get power from it,” the President said.

On October 1 this year, the President established the Department of the Environment (DoE) with the aim of overseeing and properly coordinating the activities of environmental compliance and management, protected areas development and management, national parks management, and wildlife conservation and protection in Guyana.

Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, during the Budget 2017 debates, said the newly established DoE is actively pursuing the ‘green’ agenda, and will soon present a Green State Development Strategy that will serve as an expansion of the Low Carbon Development Strategy and will have a wider scope than the LCDS by incorporating all sectors. In this regard, there is collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that will seek to set Guyana further along its green pathway to development.

The minister said, “This plan will re-orient the structures of our production base not only in the transition to low-emission, resilient platforms, but also by diversification of the economy (to) reduce reliance on the traditional sectors, such as sugar, rice and bauxite.”

The plan would also be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all Guyanese; and will be predicated on the following pillars: clean and renewable energy, so as to decarbonise the economy and society; improving the health, education and livelihood of all Guyanese; the sustainable management of biodiversity and environmental services; establishing green towns and resilient infrastructure; rural and urban development; and policies to trigger innovation, enterprise, new markets, green jobs and competitiveness.

The Department of the Environment (DoE) is also working on other projects that would help to achieve Guyana’s goal of attaining sustainable development. Head of the DoE, Ms. Ndibi Schwiers, has said the DoE is currently working on the Rio Mainstreaming Project — which looks at the Conventions on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Land Diversification that came out of the 2012 Rio Summit in Brazil.

“We are trying to ensure that we have the capacity to be able to treat with those conventions. If we don’t have the requisite skills and capacity, and if the agencies are not fully prepared to absorb the mechanisms resulting from these conventions, then we cannot really achieve sustainable development. So this project is very important in that sense,” she said.

The four-year project is being implemented in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Ms. Schwiers has said that developments are currently at the stage where a project board is being set up before stakeholders are engaged to move the process along.

Minister Harmon has also said that though 8.5 per cent of the country’s terrestrial area is committed to protected areas status, an additional two million hectares of land will be added to the national protected area system as part of President Granger’s pledge under the Paris Agreement. These protected areas, he said, will be located in all ten administrative regions, and will become spaces for learning and innovation.

Other plans in advancing the push toward a green state come 2017 include: a partnership with Germany to finance the infrastructure and equipment to improve protected areas; a project with the World Wildlife Fund to conduct studies about Guyana’s marine territory and biodiversity; and works on the intended Biodiversity Institute which is to be built at the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development (IIC), among other things.

DEVELOPMENTS IN AGRICULTURE

The Agriculture sector contribution to Guyana is 16 per cent of Guyana’s economy, but while the country has, for quite some time, depended on the contributions of the sugar and rice industries, decline in production in these sectors has made it necessary to develop revamped measures of inspiring growth for the sustainable development of Guyana within the Agriculture sector.

On the occasion of World Food Day in October last year, President Granger reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to ensuring greater food security as one of the means of eliminating extreme poverty and hunger. But with the effects of climate change and the constant threat of droughts and floods, the President added that the goal is to make agriculture more resilient, especially against the effects of the cycle of droughts and floods. As such, much of Government’s focus within the Agriculture sector has since been placed on development of inland and hinterland agriculture. Moreover, much focus is also being plugged in the area of value-added production and agro-processing.

Works to achieve this goal have already begun under the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI). In fact, hinterland areas are a major focus of NAREI’s agenda, fitting in with President Granger’s vision of tackling food insecurity in those regions.

On a larger scale, allocations for the Agriculture Sector amounted to $18 Billion in Budget 2017. With this sum — the largest ever allocated to this sector — the Agriculture Ministry will work towards ensuring that the sector continues to contribute to the economy, according to subject minister Noel Holder.

He added that Government intends to implement strategies to improve the performance of various sectors, in keeping with the President’s vision.
Chief among these strategies is arresting the declining state of the sugar industry. With the Government’s deep concern for the well-being of sugar workers, with the state of other sectors, and with critical need for investment in several areas, there is therefore need to address these challenges in a sustainable manner.

Minister Holder says Government has appointed a Cabinet subcommittee to recommend a way forward for the sugar industry, after taking into consideration reported recommendations from a Commission of Inquiry into the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) in regard to diversification of the industry, and recommendations from the Corporation itself. These recommendations will be submitted to Cabinet for consideration before year end, and final decisions would be implemented in 2017.

Though the rice sector has also seen decline, production is expected to increase in 2017. Already, the sector has seen a one per cent increase in exports within the last year.

With the aim of diversifying the Agriculture sector, Minister Holder has said, increased focus will be placed on non-traditional agricultural products; and there would be an aim towards making the industry become self-sufficient in the production of spices.

With an allocation of $45 million in livestock, the minister said, this sector is expected to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2017. He said that Government is also seeking to reduce the importation of milk and milk products through the construction of a milk processing plant.

Budgetary allocations would also be plugged into drainage and irrigation systems, education and marketing, strengthening the regulatory framework, and in other areas.

MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES

With an economy heavily dependent on its extractive sectors, the goal for sustainable development becomes one in which there is a healthy balance between conservation and exploitation of our natural resources; a balance, which President Granger has referred to as ‘walking on two legs’.

Sustainable mining practices, adequate monitoring, and land reclamation are some of the critical areas that will be addressed even as the sector continues to grow.

The Ministry of Natural Resources has received $779 million for 2017. This will be used to advance its mandate of preparing the nation for the future in regard to oil and gas production, and to improve the overall management of the extractive sectors.

Minister Raphael Trotman, of the Natural Resources Ministry (MNRE), has said that with Government’s duty to prepare the nation for the future, and with Guyana’s future set in reaping the benefits of Oil and Gas exploitation, the MNRE is working to fulfil its mandate.

He said the budgetary allocations for the coming year will do well for promoting the MNRE’s work in the three core areas of Policy Development and Administration, Natural Resources Management, and Petroleum Management. Additionally, the MNRE would seek to establish a Petroleum Commission in 2017.

In the area of Policy Development and Administration, much focus has been placed on completing a legislative review, which is scheduled to be presented early next year. The MNRE will also soon submit to Norway its list of candidates for membership in the Global Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative. Focus will also be placed on sensitising foreign and local businesses on their corporate and social responsibilities through a recently-established framework.

Within the extractive sectors, Minister Trotman was proud to announce the stellar performance of Gold Mining, that industry having declared a record 641,688 ounces of gold thus far for the year, earning Guyana close to one billion US dollars for the year.

The mining community has expressed concerns about provisions in the budget lacking concessions and other provisions for miners, but Minister Trotman has said that the planned meetings with the miners would ensure that those concerns are addressed.

The MNRE will, next year, aim to achieve an even higher output, and has assured that, with a can-do attitude, this aim will be achieved.

Minister Trotman has noted that while diamond mining also continues to be a significant revenue earner, the forestry sector did not do as well as intended for the year, but he said the MNRE is poised to improve its fortunes for the coming year.

Efforts would also be plugged into initiatives in regard to mining safety, environmental management, training for miners, land reclamation, and other areas.