After earning about US0 million from the Norway Agreement when the PPP was in Government, Guyana has not received any more funding from Norway since May 2015. Yet since APNU/AFC came into office in May 2015, it has been on a spending spree that includes spending of the US0 million from the Norway Fund. Without replenishment from Norway, the US0 million will soon be exhausted and no money will be available to continue the many development initiatives that were part of the Norway Agreement and the push to use carbon credits to advance prosperity for all Guyanese.
The Amerindian Land Titling programme, which has been a major project funded thorough the Norway funds, has stagnated while the Norway funds are being squandered in the APNU/AFC spending frenzy. Norway funds targeting Amerindian land titling have been diverted to other areas. As the US0 million in the Norway carbon credit fund become exhausted, one of the casualties is Amerindian land titling which is now seriously threatened. While it is wasting money by setting up a Land Commission of Inquiry (LCoI) with sinister plans to downgrade Amerindian land rights, APNU/AFC has made little to no progress in Amerindian land titling since May 2015. The Norway Agreement, in fact, was utilised by the PPP as a source of funding to promote Amerindian land rights in contrast to APNU/AFC’s Land Commission of Inquiry, which is designed to elevate “ancestral” land rights, downgrading Amerindian land rights.
The Amerindian Development Fund, which seeks to help eliminate poverty and promote an improved standard of living in Amerindian communities, is threatened with suspension and discontinuance if there is a failure to replenish the Norway carbon credit fund. The Amerindian Development Fund is critical in improving the village economy in the hinterland. But programmes like the hinterland electrification programme to bring power to people, especially through the solar panel programme, have already come to a dramatic halt. Without replenishment of the Norway fund, this critical programme is threatened with extinction. Already social welfare programmes like the laptop computer and internet hub initiatives have been scuttled and non-replenishment of the Norway fund will mean the death of these programmes.
The .5 billion sole-sourced GPL contract with a Chinese company is one of the many corrupt transactions, which are part of the spending frenzy of APNU/AFC. Yet little effort has been made to remove the confusion surrounding the status of the Amaila Hydroelectricity Project, one of the premier infrastructure development projects to be funded by the Norway Agreement. It is intended to help Guyana reduce and eliminate our dependency on fossil fuels. But in the eyes of APNU/AFC, Amaila is too deep-rooted in the PPP footprints and worse, the Jagdeo footprints. The fact that this project is beneficial to Guyana and all its industries and all its people is collateral damage as APNU/AFC seeks to slam the doors shut on Amaila.
With the scuttling of the Amaila Hydroelectricity Project, APNU/AFC gave clear signals that its talk of a green economy is a smokescreen to weaken Guyana’s carbon footprint and carbon credit equity. Guyana’s commitment at the Paris Climate Change Agreement in November 2015 to significantly reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and derive 90 per cent of its energy from clean fuel by 2030 cannot be achieved without Amaila. Norway has indicated that Amaila is the best way to achieve a fossil fuel-free energy architecture. APNU/AFC’s stubborn refusal to embrace Amaila, therefore, jeopardises the Norwegian Agreement and in the process has caused an interruption of carbon credit funding. In fact, not only has replenishment of the US0 million been interrupted, but APNU/AFC’s recklessness is aborting Guyana’s chances of earning more than US0 million annually in carbon credits.
APNU/AFC has been downright ambivalent in its approach to the Norway Carbon Credit Agreement. APNU/AFC’s commitment to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) has been lukewarm, if not a posture of outright rejection. Instead of embracing the LCDS and consolidating our pathway towards a carbon credit payment of US0 million annually, APNU/AFC seems more interested in erasing the PPP footprints from this innovative and global best practice, one that earned Bharrat Jagdeo the UN global award of Champion of the Earth. The consequence is that the Norway Government has not paid Guyana any money for carbon credits since the PPP Government demitted office. Now the US0 million already earned is being exhausted and there is nothing being done to assure replenishment in the near future. APNU/AFC is abrogating its responsibility to the Guyanese people.
