Dear Editor,
The Bosai billion dollar investment in Linden is really welcome. It will create lots of jobs with tenured employment for Lindeners and people in Region 10. Nevertheless it represents a small part of the entirety of Linden/R10’‘s economic development potential.
Between 1998 and 2003 a group of top German and some local experts identified the specific region of Guyana most suitable for future development on a sustainable, environmentally sound basis and also suitable for the expansion of the country’s economic base. They were considering the presence and abundance of natural resources, particularly the availability and accessibility of cheap hydropower, mining, stone quarrying, agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, eco-heritage and forest-based tourism and plentiful water.
The geographical area the German group studied and deemed to have the potential for a high level of viable economic development able to sustain the whole of Guyana was a 4,800 km area mainly in Region 10 but also incorporating parts of Regions 3 and 7. This huge area included towns and settlements such as Ituni, Linden, Christianburg, Wismar, Moblissa, Rockstone, Anarika, Wineperu, Sherima, Monkey Jump, Baganara, Bartica, River View, Itabu, Shanklands, Makouria and Lanaballi. (A map of the area was supplied with this letter.)
The study was a collaboration between the Governments of Guyana and Germany and after careful preparation was submitted to the Government of Guyana in January 2003 under the name: ‘The Natural Resources Management Project PN 93.2243.9-03.100.’ I will refer to it hereafter as the NRMP.
I believe, even in the absence of any specific reference in the 60-page document, that a collateral reason and direction of the NRMP was to identify an area suitable for an alternative capital able to absorb and sustain all of Guyana’s 750,000 population, particularly the Georgetown and coastal populations with room for growth. No doubt this search for information and expert guidance was driven by the twin evils of global warming and climate change. We know now that Georgetown has a shelf life and some time in the not too distant future along with the Lower East Coast it will be overrun by the rising Atlantic Ocean. This will occasion the complete or partial destruction not only of homes and businesses, but also of our present coastal agricultural base. It makes development of the Linden/R10 area along the NRMP’s lines an imperative.
What the German report tells us is that Linden can be developed as the hemisphere’s first green, low-carbon city and the hub of an agro-industrial complex with value-added bauxite production as one, but not its only economic plank. The NRMP points the way and should by now have been the subject of much discussion and lobbying for Linden and R10’s economic transformation. Unfortunately the stress on secrecy and non-disclosure of information has all but buried the content and spirit of the German NRMP taking with it the big picture which could easily see Linden and R10 as the new economic powerhouse of this country in 10 to 15 years.
Yet, there are questions that must be asked. More than 85% of the 4,800 km German study area is covered with forest. Presumably government will excise this huge forested land mass from the area it plans to “place under the supervision of an international body for preservation and to ensure compliance with world-class forestry standards once the right market mechanisms to make it economically worthwhile are found. “ No international custodian of Guyana’s forests will allow a single tree to be removed from the NRMP area. And, as it stands roads, farms and townships, etc, cannot be built on greenfield sites without the removal of hundreds if not thousands of trees and some degree of slash and burn activity in the rainforest. Indeed, these are questions a parliamentary opposition could be asking at this juncture rather than await a national disaster and chronic disappointment years down the road.
Apart from the revival of the bauxite industry largely due to Bosai’s timely investment in energy and value-added production, Linden can become an economic centre and a transit point to the hinterland, particularly after the Linden/Lethem/Brazil road is paved and upgraded in the next 5-8 years. As envisaged by the NRMP there should be investments made in the use of bauxite residues to produce cement; in establishing stone crushing facilities at Christianburg; in creating a ceramic industry in Linden and Ituni using abundant kaolin deposits in the area; in the production and promotion of cash crops, particularly fruit for export; in intensive dairy farming; agro industry; aquaculture and tourism.
If only some of these recommendations see the light of day Linden and R10 will become the new economic powerhouse of Guyana. The task is for government to come clean about the NRMP and about Linden/R10’ s true development potential and act on it.
Yours faithfully
F Hamley Case
The government has never been one to go out on its own and initiate real development in Guyana. What needs to be done is for people like you and the independent media to get involved, get a copy of this NRMP then light a ‘fire’ under the government’s chair and keep hammering away at the benefits of the NRMP, then, MAYBE, then something will be considered and delayed for another 8 years. As I see it there is a sinister underlying motive behind the strangulation of Linden. Keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground.
This writer is obviously oblivious to what is going on in guyana, they are in a dream world dreaming nice dreams.
The fact of the matter is that once a foreign “expert” comes to Guyana and leave a report full of baloney,we accept this as “expert advise” against all other considerations.
First of all, we cannot have it both ways, we cannot have Bosai investing one billion dollars in Bauxite mining and have a low carbon city at the same time in Linden and it’s surrounding areas.
Contrary to popular belief, Guyana does not have lots of natural resources nor fertile soil,and we need to be cognisant of these two myths, or we will continue to be misguided in our development efforts.
Another group of experts say that the reason why we have such dense jungle growing on top of very poor acid soil, is because of the seven million tons of fertile sand from the Sahara desert that gets blown onto our jungle treetops annually. So our jungle trees are not getting its food from the roots, they are feeding from the conopy.
Cement cannot be made from bauxite waste products, unless that waste has a very concentrated amount of limestone, the main ingredient in cement, only a very small quantity of aluminium and iron is needed in the mix.Ceramics, yes, we may have clays suitable for that.
Guyana is a low carbon country period, do not let these masters of deception who call themselves experts, put us in a state of panic of impending doom, we have a few outdated factories and that’s it, no one is out there slashing and burning the forest, they are all in the city, robbing any businessman that happens by.
Just look what happened when that plane crashed the other day.One of the missing men’s relative came in from Canada, took one flight over the jungle area, caught another flight back home and sent a thank you letter to SN. stating his satisfaction with the help that was given.
Now if that same plane had crashed in the USA or Canada, they would have located it in several hours time stuck in a cornfield. That guy took one look at our jungle and said forgetaboutit, I am outa here.
Then there was this other foreign “expert” who recently gave an analysis of what Guyana needs to do or not doing to develop their agricultural potential.
The last thing we need are more foreign bureaucrats to come tell us what we are not doing right, we need real experts to show us how. Now all this “expert” did was show some Amerindian women in the Rupununi how to plant some peanuts (are you kidding me)
Other than that, Guyana do really need to develop its agricultural potential, but while the idea is right the model and approach is completely wrong, outdated,
inappropriate for our countries’ dynamic and needs to be abondoned.
The government is attempting to repeat and encourage investors to repeat the same mistakes of the Forbes Burnham era. Forbes said “grow more food” they are saying “go invest” same approach, same result will follow.
The President was in New York recently I read, among some of the things he said is that there are a lot of land that was abondoned, leased and subleased, then abondoned too.
What he failed to realise is that all of the farmers who abondoned that land live right in Richmond Hill and many of them were there listening to him and probably saying to themselves “are you kidding me”
Joe.
I am elated over the mention of the sub-sealevel elevation of Georgetown, and the vast potential of the interior forested area of Guyana.
For many years I have privately expressed disappointment at the non-occurence of a comprehensive and exhaustive national debate on the merits and demerits of resiting our capital city inland to higher ground, similar to the way Brazilia was relocated by our neighbours to the southwest. The forecasted repositioning of shorelines as a result of global warming should be enough to make us nervous and seek to address this approaching disaster.
The area covered by the untapped, pristine rain forests of Guyana is screaming for development to unleash its potential to catapult the economy of the country into the twenty-first century. Even if the preference is for preservation of the forests, thereby earning carbon credits, the case for this approach can be strengthened by leveraging the harmful environmental impact of developmental programs which will entail extensive deforestation.
Food for thought.
Pshaw,don’t make me laugh. At a certain time you will be forced to re examine yourself.That is correct,but not like the illusion you are trying to sell here.Linden and Georgetown are stil in the BC era.
Dear Editor,
GREEN GOLD
The action by the Guyana Government to push for economic incentives at the on-going Koyoto #2 Protocol deliberations in order to maintain global mature rainforests, is to be highly commended. We have been continually lobbying the Guyana Government since the early 1990’s to take this “Green Gold” scheme on board.
While mature rainforests do not fit within the restricted ambit of the current Kyoto Protocol, given that rainforests have millions of tons of greenhouse warming gases stored in them, and also stored in the surrounding soils via their extensive root systems, it is only pertinent that states that refrain from destroying this global resource, and thus benefiting the rest of the Planet, while denying to themselves access to the short term timber, agricultural, and mining potential locked in the rainforests, should be reimbursed for this self-restraint.
Rainforests are not only the most bio-diverse environment on Planet Earth and the lungs of the Planet, and a potential medicinal treasure trove, but they also are instrumental in restricting global climate change. An estimated 20% of current global greenhouse warming gases are caused by rainforest destruction. Instead of empty rhetoric, a viable “rainforest rent” should be paid to the rainforest host nations which are desperate for funds to assist their struggling economies. Only an economic incentive will ensure that the rapidly dwindling rainforests are protected, rather than felled for urgent short term economic needs. The global environment is our common heritage and has no political boundaries. Future generations will rightly condemn us for this wanton destruction of such an amazing and valuable bio-asset.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Lalu Hanuman,
Secretary of KITE,
83 Northfield House,
London.
SE15 6TN.
Might I suggest that you are wasting your time describing anything of this natureto Guyanese. Guyana is a place where not because something is right,it will be done. Actually, because something is right,it is precisely why it will not be done.