Norway funds to be utilised for more strategic projects – President

While acknowledging the strides made under the previous Administration with respect to climate change,

President David Granger said his Government planned to double those efforts and utilise the remaining Norway funds for more strategic projects.
“The previous Administration was concerned about Low Carbon Development Strategy and was concerned with the direction of some of the funds to projects which were Amerindian retitling of lands and also regeneration of energy through the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project. We would like to look at climate change more broadly,” Granger stated during a recent broadcast of “The Public Interest”.
He noted that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration intended to tackle reforestation in mined-out areas, generation of energy apart from hydropower, coastal zone management, and the impacts of El Niño.
On reforestation, President Granger explained that the most severely damaged areas were located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni); Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni); and Region One (Barima-Waini).
In this regard, he said those areas would be given priority in any plan that would be crafted to promote reforestation in the country.
Additionally, he said, the vision for renewable energy should not be limited to Amaila Falls and a few handouts of solar panels, but rather huge solar farms that can power an entire community.
The President noted too that the previous Administration did not include any measures to deal with coastal zone management, something he intended to correct since sea defence was an area of vulnerability for Guyana.
Given that El Niño is a cyclical weather pattern that affects certain parts of the country, President Granger said he wanted to develop a plan to deal with the impacts of the weather phenomenon.
While nothing concrete has been crafted, the aim is to have reservoirs for water in areas that are gravely affected by the drought, particularly the Rupununi areas, he said.
“The problem of energy and environment are much beyond the plans or programmes implemented by the previous Administration. We have a wider view, a longer view, a strategic view,” he stated.
He posited, “It’s not just about land titling, it’s not just about Amaila Falls, it is about making sustainable energy available to a wider part of the population not just handing out a few solar panels but having whole communities powered by solar energy.”
Government has to make a final decision by the end of June on the future of the project or Guyana risks losing the remaining of the US$250 million in funds provided by Norway under the landmark LCDS climate migration deal.