Guyana expends a mere US$8.35M of
US$115M received from Norway
Guyana has received three tranches of financing from the Guyana Redd+ Investment Fund (GRIF) and has expended approximately $1,672 million (US$8.35M) to execute four projects that are currently being rolled out.
The precise amount of expenditure in 2013 from the GRIF was $833 million (US$4.16M), and that a further $839 million(US$4.19M) was previously spent in 2012.
This was according to Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, during the signing of the Tenth European Development Fund at the Ministry’s boardroom, yesterday. He noted that in this year’s National Budget the exact amount of money expended would be released.
Dr. Singh said that in his 2013 National Budget presentation reference was made to the various projects that are being executed, locally, with funds deposited with the World Bank by the Norwegian Government and released to partner entities.
Guyana and Norway, in November 2009, signed the historic deal that will see the Scandinavian country invest $250m (£150m) to preserve the rainforests of Guyana. And, as of December 2012, Guyana received three tranches from the Norway-Guyana climate and forest partnership totaling US$115M.
According to Dr. Singh, one of the project areas that is currently benefitting from the funding is the institutional strengthening and capacity building of agencies involved in climate change such as the Guyana Forestry Commission and the Office of Climate Change.
This aspect is being implemented by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Guyana.
The IDB is also the partner entity for the implementation of the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE). In October 2013, at the launching of the MSE it was disclosed that the project will be initiated with a US$10M funding through the Guyana/Norway forest carbon partnership agreement. An initial tranche of US$5M will be released during the first two years. It is expected that an approximate 2,200 jobs will be sustained.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Development Fund is the partnering entity for the execution of the Amerindian Development Fund Project and the Demarcation of Amerindian Lands.
In March 2013, Government launched its Amerindian Development Fund for the communities as a pilot project. Twenty-seven Amerindian communities were indentified to receive financing to execute economic ventures to generate income, provide employment and promote sustainable development.
President Donald Ramotar had stated that the agreement will see Amerindian communities benefiting from approximately $360M over a period. “The CDPs (Community Development Plans) have been developed by villages and will result in tremendous transformation of village economies from their current levels of vulnerability to greater viabilities and sustainability,” he added.
