Bureaucracy reduced LCDS benefits – Harmon

Jul 10, 2015 News

Initial assessments of the trickle-down benefits of the much-touted Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) have found that bureaucracy may have been a major hurdle.
That was the conclusion reached yesterday by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who visited the Kingston headquarters of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).
The Minister was accompanied by Presidential Advisor on the Environment, Rear Admiral (Retired) Gary Best. They met with Commissioner of Forests, James Singh.

LCDS assessment: From left is GFC’s head, James Singh; Minister of State, Joseph Harmon; Presidential Advisor on the Environment, Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Gary Best, and Malika Ramsey, Press Secretary.

Harmon said it is clear that the Commission has benefited significantly from institutional strengthening from the project, with Guyana in a good position in terms of the manpower training. This includes in technological assistance and the technology which has been put in place as a result of the LCDS.
However, regarding the actual allocation of funds under the project, Harmon believed that it appeared that the bureaucracy had been too much, with the movement of available funds taking a long time to get done.
“The objective of the Minister’s visit to the Commission was to get a sense of Guyana’s position regarding the agreement under the Norway Fund on the LCDS, and the contribution which is made by the forestry sector to this fund,” a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said.
The visiting team also examined GFC’s access to funds under the REDD+ scheme and the existing mechanisms.
“Minister Harmon reiterated that Government’s intention is to quickly review these matters, and reexamine the existing projects to ensure that they represent the full stakeholder participation. Government will also ensure that the projects to be engaged in are projects that Guyanese want, and not those simply negotiated by the previous administration, without the full benefit of the stakeholders in determining the adequacy of the projects.”
Meanwhile, Best will soon meet with Commissioner Singh and his staff on the way forward.
In 2009, the Bharrat Jagdeo-led administration launched what it called the Low Carbon Development Strategy. It was designed to promote economic development, while at the same time combating climate change.
A low carbon economy is one where economic activities are geared to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that would otherwise go into the air, and also where other activities and lifestyles seek to minimize the effects of climate change.
In November 2009, Guyana signed what was described as a ground-breaking agreement with Norway to protect its standing forests in return for US$250M incentive scheme over a five-year period. Systems were put in place to ensure Guyana’s compliance. Some of the monies were to be used in projects.
Among projects that had been earmarked for funding under LCDS were the Amaila Falls hydro electric project, the Amerindian Development Fund which targeted almost 200 Amerindian villages to advance their Community Development Plans and the Cunha Canal Rehabilitation Project, a climate adaptation effort to reduce the risks of the embankment overtopping and flooding of areas along the East Bank of the Demerara River.