-Ramotar hints at Amaila hydro revival
Guyana is in line for a new payment of US$35M under its forest protection agreement with Norway, after a marginal increase in deforestation and forest degradation in 2012.
Although the figure represents an expected drop in earnings, President Donald Ramotar in an address to the nation characterised the announcement as “a strong rebuttal” to those who he said have tried to “kill” government’s Low Carbon Develop-ment Strategy (LCDS) and the Guyana-Norway partnership, while hinting at progress on resuscitating the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project. Government planned to use some US$80M from payments received from Norway as equity for the project, which was shelved after the developer pulled out last year.
“Guyana is on the threshold of achieving what few countries anywhere in the world have managed to achieve,” he declared, while adding that the country has spent five years building the foundations of a genuinely low carbon economy. “We are maintaining 99.5% of our forest, and showing the world that it is possible to do this while simultaneously generating jobs and economic growth from sustainable forestry and mining practices. New low carbon economic sectors are growing fast; small businesses are creating low carbon jobs; Amerindians are achieving secure tenure over their land; and
