Green State Development Strategy finally launched

…PSC hopes to see economic programmes transcend regime change

The Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) was officially launched on Tuesday after a meeting between the 11th Advisory Committee, with officials providing details on proposals for the document that can make a tangible difference in the lives of Guyanese.

According to head of the Ministry of the Presidency’s Project Management Office, Marlon Bristol, the GSDS is a living document. This means consultations and discussions for improving the document will continue to be held.
“A living (consultation) means we are always open to the wishes and views of the Guyanese people. The GSDS is a living document, so the stakeholders who are here will constantly be engaged in consultations of various nature to have the document reflect the wishes and desires of the Guyanese people,” he said.
He explained that Tuesday’s meeting will serve to have such discussions, as well as to officially launch the strategy. Asked about some of the document’s components that can provide opportunities for Guyanese, Bristol revealed what options are being considered and implemented.
“There are a lot of new sectors and new jobs coming on stream and generally we have been supported through a project with the ILO (International Labour Organisation (ILO). We’ve been supported on understanding what we call green business opportunities. And those business opportunities exist in very simple ways.”
“For example, we try to give incentives to communities and individuals and businesses, where they may exist. There’s something called opting in for eco payment services. And that will apply to Indigenous and coastal communities. We also had a project, medium and small enterprises, development, which looked at financing projects and project ideas that people might have that contributes to reducing emissions.”
He gave waste management as an example of a business that companies can get into which would qualify them for incentives. Bristol explained that renewable energy is another field that Government could look to provide incentives for.
“So those are part of a plethora of new ideas that will come on stream for small businesses in particular… (in terms of) timeline, well its immediate!” Bristol further explained to Guyana Times.
Bristol noted that a lot of work to implement the GSDS is already ongoing. He explained that with Tuesday’s launch, much of these efforts being coordinated at different Ministries will become more streamlined.

PSC
Meanwhile, Private Sector Commission Executive, Ramesh Dookhoo, who was present at the meeting, noted that after much complaints over the lack of an economic strategy, this is a step in the right direction.
“The Private Sector has participated in all of the discussions and many of the working groups that were created to make this strategy a reality. We’ve also been complaining about the country not having an economic strategy moving forward… we’re not totally there yet. But today is a watershed day in the life of the GSDS.”
“One of the really dire concerns of the Private Sector is how do economic plans and policies transcend regime change. And I hope that we have addressed that. I’m not sure that we have. But the Private Sector would like to see economic programmes transcend regime change.”
Dookhoo also noted that a lot of work remains and there must be cooperation among the Private Sector, social activists and civil society as a whole.
The GSDS is largely based on the Low Carbon Development Strategy initiated by the former Government. It is a framework that is supposed to incorporate economic development programmes with strategies to promote the fight against global warming. Along the way, these programmes are supposed to be funded from the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund. Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had previously said that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) would scrap the Green State Strategy when it got back into power, since it would put strain on the treasury.