Climate change: Urgent for Guyana to start talks on relocating vulnerable communities – World Bank

…Silica City among several strategies being pursued – Govt

With rising sea levels brought on by climate change, it is important for Guyana to begin talks with vulnerable communities on relocating inland. This is the view of a World Bank official, one of the authors of the Bank’s latest report on climate change.
During a recent press conference, World Bank Senior Economist Julie Rozenburg was asked about the issue of relocation. Guyana was one of the countries the World Bank’s 360-degree resilience report assessed to be vulnerable to climate change.

Rozenburg explained that it was particularly important for Guyana to begin talks with most at-risk communities about relocating. In Guyana, this would likely include communities most susceptible to flooding.
“I would say it’s particularly urgent for Guyana. So, for the report we’ve modelled sea level rising impacting every country and clearly Guyana is a bit of an outlier in terms of how vulnerable it is to sea-level rise.
“And I think right now the priority is to start talking to the most vulnerable communities that live in these areas. And see what could be options for them. See if there are resources to protect those areas. Or if people need to start thinking about moving elsewhere.”
But while Rozenburg highlighted the urgency of the problem, she also cautioned that this was not something that could happen overnight. Rather, it is a process that must ensure the involvement of the affected communities.
“You don’t relocate communities in a few years. It’s a very long process, for it to be fair to everybody and equitable. And sustainable. So, I would start this process now, even if se- level rises impacts will be seen in 20, 30 years,” she explained.
The fact that relocating communities could not happen overnight or even in a few years was underscored by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, who in an interview with the media on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday, was asked about Government’s plans in this regard.
“The coast comprises the vast majority of Guyana’s population, economic activities, the vast majority of Guyana’s administrative structures – Parliament, Government and so on. So, moving away from the coast in a wholesale manner is going to be prohibitively costly and complicated. So, we are pursuing this question of coastal vulnerability on multiple tracks,” Dr Singh explained.
According to the Finance Minister, this includes Guyana’s continuing advocacy on the global front against climate change. He explained that Government would also continue to invest in robust sea defence structures capable of protecting the coastline. Simultaneously, he said the Government would also continue to invest in drainage and irrigation. Additionally, the Minister spoke of Silica City.
“You would know that the President, in fact in his previous life as Minister of Housing, had initiated the very visionary concept of Silica City – a city that was going to be built in Guyana’s Hilly Sand and Clay Region, representing Guyana’s first major urban development in decades, outside of the coastal plain.
“So, we’re going to increasingly pursue developments inland, like, of course, developments on the East Bank where the altitude is a little bit higher unlike the frontline of the coast. And further inland, like the Soesdyke-Linden Highway… but this is a long-term endeavour,” Dr Singh said, noting that the Government would pursue short-, medium- and long-term options against climate change.
Since its return to office, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has resurrected talk of building Silica City as a secondary city up the Linden-Soesdyke Highway. In fact, President Dr Irfaan Ali has said that international investors were eager to invest in the concept. Active planning on the city is also ongoing. (G3)