THE GUYANA Lands and Surveys Commission has expressed frustration at the slow pace in which the Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Development and Management Project is being implemented, with the entity’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Trevor Benn saying that he is not satisfied with the ways things are going.

This project is being implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). The components include, land reclamation and development, implementation of a land classification system, and other requirements to facilitate optimal land utilisation and sustainable land development and management. The project also caters for the development and operationalisation of GL&SC’s business plan, institutional strengthening of GL&SC and capacity development of stakeholders and young population, as well as to strengthen GL&SC’s information system and infrastructure for informed decision making and to increase education, communication, outreach and public awareness raising.

A team from the implementing body of the FAO is currently in Guyana engaging the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission on the project. In a release, the GL&SC said that the CEO welcomed the team to Guyana but expressed frustration at the slow pace in which work is being conducted, noting that this project is extremely important to Guyana and the government and people of Guyana.

Benn made it clear that his utterances should not been seen as a personal attack to any of the FAO representatives, but said Guyana is starving for some success stories. He said that currently a number of projects are being implemented in Guyana by United Nation (UN) agencies, but that many of them are not performing to the expectation of the Guyanese people. “We can’t say with any sense of pride, that we are close to completing these projects, and we cannot add another project to that, I am not prepared to sit here as CEO and watch that happen”. Mr. Benn stated.

The FAO team is being headed by Ms. Sally Bunning, Senior Policy Officer, Agricultural Systems, Land and Water; Mr. Vladimir Evtimov, FAO Land Administration Officer and Ms. Aurelie Bres, Land Tenure and Natural Resources Officer. Ms. Bunning who admitted that indeed there were some challenges promised to work hand in hand with the GLSC to ensure that the project is successfully implemented.

While in Guyana, the team will also conduct visits to several regions and also meet with national and regional officials. It is the hope of Mr. Benn that the next few days will be used to iron out all existing matters. The project was officially launched on January 18, 2018 and the components will run concurrently over a period of four years. It is being funded by the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) at the cost of US$14.8M.