Guyana – A bright and ‘green’ future

Apr 14, 2019 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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Vision can be defined as the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom. Over the past year, President David Granger has given us his vision of Guyana’s development post-2020. Guyana will be a ‘green’ state.
The President on numerous occasions has reminded that despite the discovery of large petroleum reserves in our offshore waters, Guyana will not be derailed in our march towards establishing a ‘green’ state.
Guyana’s Green State Development Strategy will be developed as a template for ‘greening’ the country. The economy will be transitioned from one that is currently dependent on fossil fuels towards renewable, clean and cheaper sources of energy. As part of that strategy, we will craft a comprehensive Coastal Zone Management Plan to protect human habitation, our coastal economic sector and coastal ecosystems. We will create ‘green’ enterprises and jobs inculcating ‘green’ education in our schools.
With money from the petroleum sector, Guyana will invest in solar, wind, hydro-and biomass sources of energy over the next five years. The Government of Guyana will lead the way in transitioning towards greater renewable energy use. Every government building will be encouraged to utilise alternative sources of energy, and incentives have been issued to catalyse private investment in renewables.
Massive public infrastructure works will see vast improvement in connectivity throughout the country. Highways connecting our hinterland communities to each other and to the coastland will be pivotal to the development of the ‘green’ state. The government will intensify the improvement of aerodromes, bridges and stellings.
In agriculture, Guyanese can expect a more climate-resilient sector. Agricultural expansion will see mega farms in the intermediate and Rupununi savannahs; the expansion of non-traditional agricultural products such as coconuts, fruits, spices and various varieties of rice. Agro-processing will be promoted as a means of increasing production and farm earnings and for generating employment.
In the education sector, the government has already implemented a menu of measures to enhance the quality of education. Our education policy is aimed at providing students with knowledge, skills and values to become productive citizens in the economy of the future. With monies from the petroleum sector, the government will continue to invest heavily in the development of this vital sector.
In the past, Guyana’s health system was plagued with inadequate infrastructure, high mortality rates, weak disease prevention measures, poor emergency health response and constraints to access health services, particularly in the hinterland. Since assuming office, the government has made a concerted effort to address these deficiencies and will continue to do so.
Health infrastructure and the delivery of quality health care services will be vastly improved post-2020. The Ministry of Public Health is already mapping the proximity of health facilities to communities to ensure that as far as possible, a health facility is located within 5km of a community. Plans are also on stream to upgrade health centres to polyclinics, especially in large catchment areas.
Local democracy is a means of citizens’ empowerment and government will continue to respect the autonomy of local democratic organs and strengthen their capacity to deliver effective and efficient public services.
In a recent address to youth leaders, President Granger said; “Our aim is to develop a nation of strong regions. Each region needs a centre, in the form of capital towns, for more balanced development.
Guyana is not two countries – a developed one East of the Essequibo and an underdeveloped one West of the Essequibo. This government established four new capital towns – at Bartica, Mabaruma, Mahdia and Lethem – in the four large hinterland regions in the first three years in office. Your Government aims, eventually, at ensuring that each region would possess its own capital town to deliver public services and to promote economic and social development. Each region should have:
– its own aerodromes, banks, courts, factories, hospitals, galleries and museums, newspapers, radio and television stations, passport and registrar’s offices, police stations, secondary schools, sporting stadiums, sub-treasuries and other amenities;
the capacity to generate employment opportunities for its young people – by attracting investors, encouraging commerce with the Caribbean, neighbouring countries and other parts of the world and by developing thriving business districts, industrial parks, busy highways and bustling stellings.”
Addressing Parliament on October 18, 2018, President Granger reminded; “Oil production is expected to begin in 2020 and will be the most transformative economic development in our history. Your government is taking steps to ensure that revenues, which accrue from the sector will not be squandered but, instead, will be invested strategically in building human and institutional capacity, addressing our infrastructural deficit and providing economic security for future generations. Your government is committed to transparency in the management of this sector. We have already made public the petroleum contracts between investors and the government of Guyana…. Your government will ensure that oil revenues are prudently managed for the present and future generations in accordance with our objective of securing the good life for all. We shall do this through a Natural Resources Fund, which will be established before first oil in 2020.
Priority will be given to investments in our human capital, particularly our public education system and in key catalytic infrastructural projects that improve productivity, bridging the divide between coastland and hinterland.”

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