The AFC is not amused by the vile attempts of the PPP/C administration to cause strife and urges our Amerindian brothers and sisters and all residents of hinterland communities to inform themselves on how funds for LCDS projects can be accessed from the GRIF. The AFC wants to make clear that the LCDS projects in Amerindian and hinterland communities will not be affected by cuts to the 2012 budget.
Under the agreement with Norway whereby that country has committed to providing Guyana with up to US$250 million by 2015, a Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) has been set up with the World Bank as the Trustee. The World Bank will receive the money from Norway and transfer t it to the Partner Entities when a request is made. These Partner Entities are the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank. (Not the Government of Guyana)
All projects to be funded must be approved by a Steering Committee that has been set up and which comprise representatives of Guyana and Norway. Once the Steering Committee approves a project and agrees on an amount of funds to be allocated it will notify the World Bank and the Partner Entity (IDB, UNDP or WB) of such approval. The Trustee (WB) will issue a Letter of Commitment to pay over the approved allocation. When the Partner entity receives this letter it will send a Transfer Request to the World Bank. The World Bank will then pay the requested allocation to the Partner Entity which will make all payments to the implementing agency.
The agreement provides that once the projects are approved by the Steering Committee and does not exceed the amount in the Fund, money will be allocated. All projects approved by the Steering Committee whether it be Amerindian Land Titling, provision of solar panels for Hinterland communities, Micro and Small Enterprise Development or any other approved project will receive funding once they reach the eligibility criteria of the Partner Entity and the Steering Committee.
Persons can check this information against what is provided by the World Bank by visiting the World Bank website: www.worldbank.org/grif
The Government’s vile attempts to mislead the Parliament into thinking that the budget amount of $18 billion that was voted against, was money that would form part of the treasury was dishonest to say the least and could very well be intended to establish a false defensive position the government intends to take when it fails to reach the standards set by IDB and UNDP for accessing the fund.
This would not be the first time that the PPP/C Government would have failed to meet internationally set standards for accessing financing.
Guyanese well remember the negligence of the PPP/C administration in 2011 that resulted in Guyana not accessing $3.8 billion of EU funding for the sugar industry and the failure of that same administration to agree to benchmarks that would have allowed Guyana to secure a $4 billion security sector reform project fund from the British Government. It is clear that that the PPP administration is unwilling to actively pursue any foreign funded project with high standards of accountability and transparency.
The AFC will be publishing information on the management of the GRIF which the public can verify. [END]
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