-Jagdeo dismantles opposition ‘people-centred’ sloganeering
-highlights contrast of PNC/R’s ‘wishful thinking,’ PPP’s ‘innovation, creativity’

ALTHOUGH the Peopl’es National Congress/ Reform (PNC/R) has boasted of having a ‘people- centred’ approach to governance, its past polices have only depicted ‘wishful thinking’ and ‘sloganeers.’[sic]
This is according to People’s Progressive Party/Civic General Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who in response to the oppositions critics of the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), on Thursday highlighted the contrast in policies that have been implemented by the two parties.
Last week, several opposition members, attempted to derail this key policy of the PPP/C government to continue forest-conservation efforts, adapt to climate change, earn money from the country’s resources and better the lives of its citizens.
“A key element of the expanded LCDS is focusing on biodiversity, but not just biodiversity, we have expanded it to adaptation, and we have expanded to the blue economy. We have expanded it to integrated water management,” Dr. said at his weekly press conference, held at Freedom House.
Back in November 2009, a then President Jagdeo and the former Minister of the Environment and International Development of Norway, Hon. Erik Solheim, had signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
In the agreement, Norway committed to providing Guyana up to US$250M by 2015 to avoid deforestation, once certain performance indicators are met. This agreement represented the first international commitment of financial support to the LCDS and was the first partnership of its kind between a developed and developing country.

Later, in 2022, the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions announced the issuance of 33.47 million TREES credit to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020.
The Government of Guyana in that same year entered into an agreement with the Hess Corporation for the sale of carbon credits for a minimum of US$750 million between 2022 and 2032.
Fifteen per cent of the earnings from the initial disbursements were allocated to Indigenous villages across Guyana, while the remaining 85 per cent was allocated to national priorities, such as climate-mitigation efforts.
“He doesn’t understand the carbon transactions that took place,” Jagdeo said, calling out opposition leader, Aubrey Norton, for his ill-informed critiques.
“When [they are] confronted with a question that demands a sensible answer he moves back to slogans.”

Analysing the opposition’s ‘Green State Strategy,’ a policy which lacked substance, Dr. Jagdeo pointed out that it was an ‘agglomeration of wishful thinking’, pointing out that the previous government had no clear strategy for climate mitigation, preservation of Guyana’s forests and its biodiversity.
In contrast, the PPP/C government’s LCDS outlines a clear objective, setting out a pathway for the country to earn money from its standing forest.
“$600 odd million will go to adaptation that would help our people right across Guyana to better prepare for droughts, floods, etc. It would help our farmers, people who live in communities. You have to active [sic] it, you have to think it through you have to see that it is self-financing that it doesn’t burden the country, which is what we have done through our innovative thinking and though our creativity.”

He noted that the opposition, despite echoing calls for a ‘people-centred’ development strategy, has rejected efforts being made by the government to improve Guyana’s infrastructure, improve health care and expand education, among other things.
“People when they can’t deal with substance, they sloganeer, people centred doesn’t mean anything if you don’t fix peoples roads, if give them good health care, if you don’t give them proper education, if you don’t find jobs for them, you don’t have children taken cared off, if you don’t invest in security so they can live in homes peacefully.”

Dr. Jagdeo further quizzed: “What does people-centred development mean, you are opposed to everything we do in education, in healthcare, infrastructure, but you’re for people-centred development.”
He noted that the opposition cushions its self with slogans to remain relevant.