I see Linden as the next Economic Hub - Rear Admiral (rtd) Gary Best

I see Linden as the next Economic Hub – Rear Admiral (rtd) Gary Best

Jul 29, 2019 News

By Enid Joaquin

“I see Linden as the next economic hub!”
CEO of International Ecosystem Services and the Green State Development Strategy, Rear Admiral (retired) Gary Best, on Friday made this remark to entrepreneurs at the Linden Chamber of Commerce and Development Business Forum.
Best was at the time alluding to the Guyana Initiative Against Climate Change (GIÀCC) proposal to develop a solar farm at Kara Kara, Linden.
‘I would just like to take the opportunity to endorse the GIACC project….I benefited from a brief by the Fauconniers in 2017. I was then the Presidential Advisor for the Environment. I think it is a very solid project-it is a project that I endorsed then, and I endorse now, and I think it’s a project that Linden should grab hold of .
“If I was asked the question why Linden?
I would say that Linden should be the next economic port of Guyana.
And if it were to be my vision, my vision would be to see Linden as the next Economic hub.”
Best said that Linden has everything that is required to make the aforementioned a reality, including its unique topography and resources.
Best also spoke extensively of the Country’s Green State Development Strategy, which he said, could be ‘sloganized’ to ‘Let’s make Guyana Green by 2040’.
According to Best, if this is done, the concept of what needs to happen over the next twenty years would get into ‘the psyche’ of citizens.
He added that the Green State Development Strategy, has been developed against the backdrop of
the country’s commitment to the United Nations framework Climate Change Convention, which is important to understand.
That Convention, he pointed out, is about adapting to, and mitigating Climate Change.

LIGHT UP GUYANA
CEO(ag)of NICIL Arianne McLean, advised participants on how they could access State Lands, and said that NICIL is prepared to accept proposals and willing to work with potential land owners.
“Linden can light up Guyana with sound investment in local energy,” McLean declared.
NICIL’S vision, she said, is for Linden to be a self sufficient Town.
According to McLean, NICIL’s CEO Colvin Heath London is ‘a visionary’, who believes that Linden has much opportunity, and that presently there is a lot that can be done collaboratively.
Alluding to the business forum as purposeful, McLean charged Lindeners to partner with NICIL as she believes that true development could only take place through partnerships.
“As the Government moves to make land development and land management more efficient and productive, one of NICIL’s
dominant roles, is to embrace that mandate; coupled with our responsibility to develop and distribute lands under our remit, while adhering to policies to facilitate sustainable land use.”
McLean added that NICIL is committed to forming and maintaining strong consultations and partnerships.
She spoke of the great potential that currently exists in the mining town for agro processing, ecotourism and aqua culture, and the entity’s commitment to support same.
The Chamber’s business forum ran for three days at the Watooka Complex, and saw the heads of various businesses and organizations making presentations.
The forum was followed by the Trade Fair and Business Expo at the Egbert Benjamin Centre, where Businesses were afforded the opportunity to showcase their products.
FIVE Lindeners were presented with small grants to help develop their businesses from the Small Business Bureau (SBB).
Minister of Business, Haimraj Rajkumar, who declared the exhibition and trade fair open, distributed the grants.
Rajkumar expressed satisfaction that Linden was the first to benefit from this initiative.
He exhorted the recipients, “The grant is for a specific purpose, what you would have put in your business plan; this is not free money, this is money from the taxpayers, this is money that we have to account for.”
The Trade Fair and Expo culminated yesterday.