–NTC Chair says APA must not be allowed to deprive Indigenous Peoples of opportunities for development
–villages stand to benefit from billions of dollars in direct cash deposits through the sale of Guyana’s carbon credits

CHAIRMAN of the National Toshaos Council (NTC), Derrick John, has raised an alarm over the Amerindian Peoples Association’s (APA) ludicrous decision to unjustifiably complain against the Government of Guyana, which has only sought to create opportunities for Indigenous Peoples and their communities to prosper.

It was reported in the Stabroek News that the APA has utilised the grievance mechanism to lodge a formal complaint with the Winrock Architecture for REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) Transactions (ART) Secretariat.

“I write to publicly state my alarm in learning that the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) had filed a ‘formal complaint’ to the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) Secretariat against Guyana’s National Forest Carbon Programme – a key aspect of the LCDS 2030.

“I have since seen the 18-page letter with appendices dated March 8, 2023, addressed to the ART Secretariat and copied to several international institutions including the United States Department of State and the Norwegian Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), among others. It is glaring that no person or agency in Guyana was copied; not even the National Toshaos Council (NTC), the legislated representative of the indigenous peoples of Guyana,” John said in a letter to the editor on Friday.

He went on to say: “As Chairman of the NTC, I categorically state that our council including its executive, was not informed, much less consulted on the APA’s intention to file a complaint purportedly on behalf of our indigenous peoples, and we were not given even the courtesy of notification that the ART Secretariat was being contacted and a complaint registered.

“The APA goes as far as to recommend to the ART Secretariat that ‘the credits issued to Guyana that have not yet been purchased be frozen and suspended, and that no further credits be issued’ until the APA’s demands are met. This is presumptuous, totally unacceptable and does not represent the wishes of our indigenous people.”

Guyana was issued 33.47 million in forest carbon credits from the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) for the five years between 2016 and 2020, after the conclusion of an independent validation and verification process and approval by the ART Board.

Hess Corporation had signed an agreement with Guyana to pay a minimum of US$750 million to purchase 30 per cent of the country’s high-quality, REDD+ jurisdictional carbon credits. And Amerindian communities in Guyana are set to receive at least US$112 out of the US$750 million in keeping with the government’s commitment under its hallmark Low Carbon Development Strategy.

The government is already looking at going through a competitive process for the sale of the remaining 70 per cent, to maximise benefit to the country.

According to Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, at current prices, the country could earn over US$2 billion of which some 15 per cent stands to go to indigenous communities.

“That will be US$400 million that would be eighty something billion dollars will go to these communities. That would help to transform the lives of these 240 something villages that are now beneficiaries of this credit,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

ACTIVELY ENGAGED
Cognisant of this and other development plans, John said: “Our indigenous leaders are currently actively engaged in developing plans and projects in consultation with their residents to determine development programmes for their respective communities.

“There is a hive of activity in all communities across our country. This is a process of self-determination regarding how the funds earned and already disbursed to our village bank accounts, under the carbon credit scheme would benefit our people, their livelihoods, and future generations.”

He went on to say: “The APA must not be allowed to deprive our villages, our communities, our people of the development funds we need to pursue the vision of our people.

“Editor, it is outrageous that the APA, a local NGO with a handful of members in two administrative regions, and with no legislated authority to represent indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in Guyana or anywhere for that matter, could be brazen enough to take such a position.”

According to John, it is “incredible” that one of the main accusations the APA leveled against the Government of Guyana is the alleged absence of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) regarding issues of our people.

Yet, the same APA appointed itself as spokesman of the indigenous peoples and is making demands and even challenging the integrity of government and international institutions while falsely claiming to be representatives of Amerindians, John said.

“The APA has not informed us of their intentions; they did not provide us with any information of their complaint or demands; we were not consulted and therefore, we have not and could not give our consent to their letter and complaint to the ART Secretariat.

“In other words, the APA is guilty of the accusations they have unjustifiably leveled against the Government of Guyana. The APA does not honour or respect FPIC,” he contended.

The APA, according to John, is a member of the national multi-stakeholder steering committee (MSSC) which takes decisions and oversees the LCDS 2030 implementation including the forest carbon credit programme.

“I have confirmed that the Committee was not informed of this move by the APA and I am sure that the Guyana Organization of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP), The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG), Amerindian Development Foundation (ADF) and the Indigenous Peoples Commission (IPC), all of whom are representatives of our IPLCs and are MSSC members, were not consulted or informed by the APA either

“I call upon my fellow Toshaos and other community leaders to call out the APA on their offensive actions,” John said, noting: “I urge the ART Secretariat, our international partners, and all Guyanese to see through this veil of deception.”

Vice-President Jagdeo believes the move by the APA is politically motivated by associates of the main opposition party, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), led by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).

Executive Director of APA, Jean La Rose, was a candidate for the APNU in the 2015 elections. Dr. Jagdeo reminded that it was the APNU that has scrapped the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which facilitated Guyana’s development of its carbon credit sector.

After assuming government in 2015 the APNU replaced the LCDS with the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS). This is not withstanding the country having earned an initial US$250 million under the first LCDS.

“The green state strategy was never adopted at the country level because it had no sustainability. It brought only further obligations on the state of Guyana to make expenditures in a manner that would have displaced expenditure from other important tasks in this country,” Dr. Jagdeo noted.