Dear Editor,
It seems as though the Ministry of the Presidency (MoP) is being undermined so as to get control of the Norway funds. As the MOP subject Minister, Harmon is embroiled in various controversies surrounding his recent visit to China .Some are trying to take advantage of it and even trying to undermine it.
An article of Monday 19 April on the subject “Norway wants forest $$M removed from Ministry of Presidency’’ is a classic case of trying to undermine the office of Minister Harmon and the MOP.
Where the Norwegian funds must go to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). The MOP formerly OP was and has always been in charge of the climate change portfolio through the Office of Climate Change (OCC) and by this very fact has been the lead in Management of the Norway Funds.
It seems that some elements at the MNR are trying to wrestle this portfolio from the MOP and place the funds at the MNR. Therefore using the current situation that Minister Harmon finds himself in and using the media to do its bidding, is just undermining the MOP and the office of Minister Harmon and this must not be allowed to continue.
Minister Harmon must take charge of the situation and put an end to this delegation from Norway’s officials are expected in the country next week of April 25 and I do hope that they do not fall into this trap of undermining the MoP as this would be a classic case of interference by Norway in Guyana’s Redd+ Programme would.
Should this happen, the programme would be trained and sends back a message to countries that seek to get compensation or benefits for forest conservation activities that the contributor of the funds would dictate government’s policies. And this must not be allowed to happen in Guyana as a sovereign state.
Yours sincerely,
Carl Lucas
