On Sunday, in GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC -President Dr. Irfaan Ali defended his government’s focus on Amerindian development.
This was in response to calls for a larger payout to Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples from the carbon credits deal with the Hess Corporation.
In an early morning address to the nation on Sunday, Ali said his government has been focusing on building new schools, protecting the environment, providing employment, and other kinds of support.
He also contrasted his government’s efforts to those made by the former APNU+ AFC administration, now Guyana’s parliamentary opposition.
According to the President, the former administration shelved Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which would’ve seen Indigenous people benefitting from forest payments.
He also said the Amerindian Land Titling project needed more advancement, which was meant to provide legal ownership of lands to Indigenous communities. And he reminded the public that hundreds of Community Support Officers (CSOs) lost their jobs.
Because he believes his government is doing much more to support Indigenous development, he rejected calls made by the APNU+AFC opposition.
“I find it very hypocritical, but I guess it’s the opportunistic nature of the people we are dealing with,” Ali said.
What prompted the President’s live address on his Facebook page were calls for the allocation of funds to Indigenous communities to be increased.
As per the updated LCDS, 15 percent of all proceeds from the country’s forest payments will be directly allocated to Indigenous Guyanese since they are the custodians of the forests.
With Hess’ first deposit made, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo recently said a minimum of US $10 million and up to $35 million would be disbursed to each Indigenous community.
A total of US$22 million is currently available to the Indigenous communities.
The remaining 85 percent of the payments will be spent on projects needed to help save Guyana from the harsh effects of climate change, including flooding and other development ventures.
Ali also acknowledged many needs across the country since Guyana, like other countries, is confronted by overlapping climate change, energy, and food security crises.
He, however, promised that the government would respond in “varied forms” throughout the year to bring relief to people. a
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