Govt’s hard work resulted in carbon credit funding, not NGOs – Jagdeo sets the record straight

Some 242 Amerindian villages and communities across Guyana are being transformed with funds earned from the sale of Guyana’s carbon credit. The monies that are being invested in these areas are a result of the ‘hard work’ by the PPP/C government.

This was made abundantly clear by General Secretary of the PPP, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday, as he shut down claims that the resources being disbursed to these villages belong to a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO).

It was in March that the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) Secretariat rejected a complaint made by the Amerindian People’s Association (APA), which could have delayed future payments to Guyana for its forests. This would have resulted in Amerindian villages not receiving financial resources to transform their lives.

According to the general secretary, “Now, many of them are telling the communities that this is NGO money that they are receiving. Well, it’s not NGO money, it came as a result of hard work by the Government of Guyana.”

He noted that the organisation lacks credibility to go to communities, so it’s members are attempting to downplay and erode development initiatives that are being made by the government.

In 2009, Guyana under the leadership of Dr. Jagdeo launched the first Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) whereby 15 per cent of monies earned from carbon credits sale will go towards advancing economic and social development of the Amerindian population.

The general secretary explained that the PPP/C Administration immediately after assuming office began work to certify its forest coverage to receive carbon credit funding.

“Immediately, we set about working on the expanded Low Carbon Development Strategy. By December 2020, we started looking for a programme to certify our forest because, without international certification, we wouldn’t have been able to give the credibility to the forest credits that we were going to put on the market,” Dr Jagdeo explained to media operatives at Freedom House.

It took two years of work by the government to receive certification for the nation’s forest coverage, which allowed for payment amounting to  US$750 million over the next 10 years.

“Only because of that, we were able to sell 30 per cent of that credit for $700 million and the Amerindian communities over the next decade will get 15 per cent … it was because of this government’s efforts, it’s not NGO money, the money belongs to Guyana,” the GS emphasised.