“The world is looking for a great example somewhere,” Jan Hartke, a consultant to the Clinton Foundation wrote in June 2009. “Wonderfully enough,” he continued, “President Jagdeo’s leadership has quite honestly inspired people around the world, and you really need leadership on something like this if we are able to get progress in Copenhagen. He will be able to show how other countries can follow the emergent Guyana model.”
As we now know, there was no progress in Copenhagen. And Guyana’s “model” is looking increasingly shaky as the rate of deforestation in the country goes up.
REDD-Monitor received the following anonymous contribution which is posted here unedited. REDD-Monitor looks forward to a discussion about the issues raised (but please keep comments polite). What is Norway to do? What should Guyana do in order to ensure that deforestation does not accelerate out of control?
Guyana ‘REDD’: a ‘minor upward variation’ in the problems for Norway
As was foreseen by REDD-Monitor ‘REDD’ in Guyana is rapidly descending into farce. The latest, and perhaps most serious, of a long list of problems is that an independent technical report, released this week, shows that deforestation in Guyana was three times higher than historical levels during the first year of the Norway-Guyana ‘REDD’ agreement, which is intended to reduce emissions from forests.
This presents the Government of Norway with a profound problem. When it signed its Memorandum of Understanding with Guyana in November 2009, an ‘interim’ baseline deforestation rate was set, at a notional 0.45% – even though this was higher than any credible assessment of the actual deforestation rate. Norway gave Guyana $30m for the first year of its agreement, but it was agreed that, for subsequent years, a proper and detailed assessment would take place to determine the actual historical rate of deforestation as assessed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and that Guyana would thence be compensated on a ‘performance basis’ for any lessening of deforestation against the true historical level, to be paid retrospectively, on a yearly basis. The first ‘performance-based payment’ would thus happen in 2011, depending on Guyana’s success in staying below historical baseline rates of deforestation during 2009-10.
The new study, carried out for Norway’s International Forests and Climate Initiative (NICFI) and the Guyana Forest Commission by the Pöyry consultancy, suggests that the actual historical rate of deforestation averaged over several decades was only a mere 0.02% per year – reflecting the low population density in the interior of the country, itself related to the extremely infertile nature of most of Guyana’s soils. More problematic, however, the report suggests that the actual rate of deforestation during the first year of the Norway-Guyana agreement was 0.06%. Whilst this is still low both as a rate and in terms of the actual area of forest lost, it is nevertheless three-times the historical baseline rate. According to the performance measures set out in the Norway-Guyana MoU, Guyana will receive no money this year for ‘reducing emissions from deforestation’ during 2009-10. In any case, the Government of Guyana has never made any explicit commitment to reduce emissions of forest-based carbon.
Guyana’s government will doubtless appeal to a ‘get-out clause’ in an undated technical document provided by NICFI but not available in Guyana, which states that, should the real historical rate of deforestation prove to be very low – as it is now suggested to be – then “minor upward variations” will be tolerated, taking into account the uncertainties of measuring relatively small areas of forest loss over long periods of time. But the Government of Norway will know that it will lose all credibility if it accepts a 300% ‘above baseline’ rate of deforestation as a mere “minor upward variation” – and the technical document anyway fails to stipulate what happens, in terms of REDD payments, should such a situation arise.
But Norway will also no doubt now be looking more closely at the plans being set out by President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, for spending the Norwegian money. This is supposed to be based partly on the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which was originally developed by the increasingly discredited McKinsey and Co, and funded by UK’s Department for International Development and the the Clinton Foundation. Other than the Government of Norway, and in spite of the President’s frequent overseas travels and speeches, no other donors have stepped forward to provide the US$580 million per year which the LCDS claims Guyana sacrifices as ‘opportunity cost’ for not cutting down its forests. In a parallel process, even the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility has all but stalled, with not a single cent having yet been disbursed for REDD+ preparation in Guyana.
The Norwegian funding – now looking increasingly doubtful – is thus critical to the credibility of the LCDS, which President Jagdeo has very personally led, and almost daily promotes to his country through the media. Whilst Norwegian officials initially appeared to be unworried by the abbreviated rationales for expenditure as set out in the LCDS (exemplified by a mere one and half pages description for the US$600-650 million construction cost for the Amaila Falls dam, among the highest costs of a hydro-electric dam per megawatt in the world), they have no doubt become troubled as some of President Jagdeo’s projects have started to evolve. Of the US$30 million Norwegian funding for 2010, which has already been transferred to the ‘Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF)’ account managed by the World Bank, President Jagdeo wants US$ 15-19 million to purchase government equity in the Amaila Falls dam project – for access to the site of which, a road is already being constructed under a contract that was illegally awarded to a Florida-based real estate company with no previous experience of such projects, and before the legally necessary Environmental and Social Impact Assessment had been conducted, and the necessary permit issued by Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency. Whilst the President wants the Norwegian funding immediately, it is uncertain if the access road will be completed in the scheduled eight months, and it is unlikely that money could anyway be invested in equity in the dam until later in 2011.
Under another LCDS project, US$4 million of the first tranche of Norwegian money is to be invested in ‘demarcation’ of Amerindian lands through a project to be run by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission under the supervision of UNDP which will administer the grant from the GRIF, and reliant on government survey staff. Experts that have seen the UNDP proposal document for this project have expressed astonishment at its legal, technical and administrative weakness, and lack of inclusion of low-cost community mapping by the indigenous communities themselves, which has been carried out successfully by many Amerindian villages in the past. A proposal for a US$1.5 million project for electrification of some Amerindian households through provision of solar panels is, say observers, very similar to a project that was recently financed by the IADB, and that there is a risk of ‘double funding’ of the same activities. A proposal for a US$1.5 million new biodiversity research centre seems surprising and possibly unnecessary in a small country that already has two such centres, one at the University of Guyana, the other at the Iwokrama International Rainforest Centre. None of the projects have yet been approved by the GRIF steering committee, whose terms of reference are still under discussion.
Meanwhile, under the current constitution, President Jagdeo should step down this year, and fresh presidential elections held. Some observers believe that the President wishes to hold on to the reins of power, either by moving into the Prime Minister’s job in a ‘Putin/Medvedev-like’ arrangement, or possibly by revising the constitution to allow him to stand for further terms as President. For either of these scenarios – and anyway to reinforce the electoral prospects of his Peoples Progressive Party – vote-winning projects and handouts in the coming months could be critical. The ‘floating vote’ of the substantial Amerindian population could be particularly critical in a country where Party voting patterns are strongly divided down racial (South Asian vs. Afro-Caribbean) lines.
As well as the huge political stakes that President Jagdeo holds in the LCDS and the Norwegian funding, he also appears to have ‘borrowed’ against future receipts in order to fund existing projects – such as the Amaila Falls dam access road. The recently announced national budget assumes that at least $40m more will be forthcoming from Norway this year (even though an early draft of the Pöyry report, co-commissioned by the Guyanese authorities, had already started to raise doubts about whether Guyana would qualify for any more of Norway’s funding in 2011). Promises and allocations have probably been made to business colleagues and political allies from this and last year’s Norwegian funds – and keeping these promises could be necessary for a successful re-election campaign. Although all Norwegian funds are to be approved by the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund – the Office of Climate Change, which is located within the President’s office, will oversee the proposals to the GRIF and will give direction to the chairman of the GRIF Steering Committee, Tarchand Balgobin, who is a close associate within Jagdeo’s ruling party.
Norwegian officials will thus no doubt be coming under immense pressure to ease through the projects, and to find a ‘creative’ way to overcome the problems that they have so far paid $30 million into the GRIF, even though deforestation increased, and that according to the terms of their agreement, no money should be paid to Guyana in 2011. An ‘audit’ of the Government of Guyana’s conformance with the terms of the MoU, to be carried out by the US-based Rainforest Alliance, has still not been published. To add to their woes, as REDD-Monitor recently reported, the Guyanese government is busy handing out concessions to logging and mining companies that will see millions of hectares of forest damaged or destroyed – and thus the rise in deforestation (as well as degradation from logging operations) looks set to continue.
The world will be watching closely to see whether Norway acts to retain the integrity and credibility of its ‘REDD’ initiative in the important test-case country of Guyana, or succumbs to political pressure from a President who seems to be confident that he can persuade Norway to set aside or water down the conditionalities in the MoU.
keep digging and you’ll realise jagdeo & co. are all smoke & mirrors
ask what they’ve done with indigenous community money from mining on their land
billions ‘missing’
I am a Guyanese. What has been revealed is just a drop in the ocean. Norway money will be used for campaign. It has already started. My relatives in some of the communities in the interior have been told that solar panels are coming and in one case, a 4 x 4 vehicle is coming too. A Regional Chairman of Region 9,told a gathering that he will ensure that the road will be made into that area. Everybody who lives in the South knows the problems the so called road caused during this just concluded rainy season. Who did the contract? A party boy whose expertise lies in the vehicular mechanic field. Recently there was this issue of the threat to the life of the President of the only out spoken NGO,the Amerindian Peoples Association. Everybody knows that this is the only organisation which carries the true information to the grass root levels and its president is an out spoken person. Once again the Indigenous Peoples stand to be most impacted with Jagdeo’s plan.
Thank you Theodore, I only wish more people, especially my indigenous peoples can begin to acknowledge that there are a lot of flaws and shortcomings in the ‘developmental’ initiatives that the GOG is claiming to propose on our behalf. We must also learn to see more than the solar panels (half of which are not working) and ATVs and 4x4s. I also call on international donors to be more alert on the nature of representations and the nature of its engineerings.
Amerindians are being used and unfortunately a lot of the international NGOs and govt representatives are playing politics and being polite
there has been absolutely no development to speak of in 90% of Amerindian communities
the govt of Guyana is exploiting the peaceful nature of Amerindians
giving someone a free solar panel is not development
Non-existent body gets $130M allocation
A review of the expenditures in the 2011 Current and Capital expenditure would reveal that monies have been allocated to a non-existent body which also spent more than was actually budgeted for last year.
The State Planning Secretariat is slated as an agency under the Ministry of Finance and is budgeted to receive $130M in subvention/contribution from that Ministry, but the entity was abandoned ever since 1994.
Further, the body was allocated $130M in the 2010 budget but the revised figures show that the entity actually received $140M.
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2011/01/28/non-existent-body-gets-130m-allocation/
I am still reading the article above, but there’s enough there to show that the fears and concerns emanating from the record of the national dialogue one year ago remaim valid:
See everywhere in the online article “Greed, Genocide … and now “Green”: Corruption and Underdevelopment in Guyana” (http://www.scribd.com/doc/17958657/Greed-Genocide-and-now-Green-Corruption-and-Underdevelopment-in-Guyana )
What I’ve just read, suggests gross dishonisty and gigantic corruption of the President of Guyana as well as Government Officers. If alloud to continue, will probably get these criminals elected to continue in their raping of the Guyanese people. These deeds must be exposed to the Guyana public.
we’ve been warning that the world will learn the hard way about the sheer gangsterism, nepotism and incompetence of the jagdeo administration. don’t listen to all his pretty sounding speechs and words
sham nokta is jagdeo´s environmental advisor and head of the office of climate change located in the office of the president. he jet-sets across the world on Guyanese tax payers money pushing his environmental rackets.
nokta´s environmental hustle and front company EMC is a registered consultancy with the Environmental Protection Agency of Guyana and the International Association for Impact Assessment.
this EMC outfit has even billed Guyanese taxpayers for a contract with the office of the president where he is employed! [Prepared the Terms of Reference for a Review of Guyana’s Wildlife Legislation funded by World Wildlife Fund]
the list of contracts almost all gross violations & conflict of interest was on EMC website as of a couple days ago.
EMC’s clients include: Government of Guyana and a host of government agencies, Multilateral Organisations, Private Sector, Local and International NGOs
it get´s better. sham is the son of former minter of local govt harripersaud nokta who is now an environmental consultant in and around the office of the president. harripersaud can be seen in the photos trailing bharrat jagdeo & eric solheim at the signing of the Norway/Guyana MOU where the 250$US was promised. it´s no coincidence that he is dressed in green.
my blog [propaganda press] has been covering these guys for a long time. EMC is also doing consultancy work at least one company engaged in the Amaila Falls Hydro project. monies from the Norway $250 million is supposed to go this project.
[SRKN’gineering
Conducting Environmental and Social Compliance Monitoring for SRKN’gineering who has been awarded a contract for supervision of the construction for the Design and Build road and Transmission Line Project from Georgetown to Amaila Falls, Region 8.]
SRKN’gineering has already been involved in some spectacular disasters to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. with zero civil engineering experience or background they continue to receive govt contracts to build kokers [drainage sluices] and a host of other civil engineering projects the principals have no background in. hence the spectacular failures
Shyam Nokta has accompanied bharrat jagdeo to meetings with the Norwegian Prime Minister and Minister of Environment for these funds…aren’t these Norweigans aware of what’s going on?
how could shyam nokta represent the govt of Guyana for this money then funnel this same money back to himself through EMC?
in answer to that question, that’s how the govt of Guyana operates
all this information is easily verified by searching the internet or calling any reporter in Guyana…and this is just the tip of the ice-berg
today the minister of agriculture robert persaud called for more deforestation in Guyana
“Those concessions that we continue to see persons not fully utilizing, we will have to have some discussions in having these returned and re-allocated”
he was speaking at Guyana Forestry Commission’s Multi Purpose Centre, Kingston.
this is where the sheer brilliance of the man who wants to replace his uncle-in-law as president of Guyana [he is married to the president’s niece]
“Even if we have 100 percent utilization of the rate of concessions, it will not change our rate of deforestation and increase that rate of deforestatation”
That allocation of $130m which was in actual sum of $140m to a non-existent body is just atrocious Nelly. The government of Guyana continues to punch at the psyche of the Guyanese people but there is only so much that generations can take. There is always an end to a rope no matter how long it is. I hope that the GOG is taking note of the current issue in Egypt. A leader will rise in Guyana and all those who are enjoying the harvest of the exploited hardworking Guyanese will pay in the end.
@ Laura ,
Before you jump into the fire regarding this supposed 130 or 140 million, have you or anyone else been able to actually identify this transaction.
I would be suprised if it ever happened.
The Norway government are worst gangsters than the Guyana government I can assure you.
There is no way on earth Norway will hand one peso over to anyone without immediatly making a profit.
Norway are the biggest scammers regarding this UNFCCC promoted REDD+ scam.
@anthony (#11) – How do you anticipate that Norway will make a profit from the country’s support of REDD?
The $130/140 million was reported in the Kaieteur News on 28 January 2011: “Non-existent body gets $130M allocation“.
@Chris Lang,
yes, Norway will off set their maybe REDD support with a barter of logging , gas ,oil ,coal(like the Norway-Chinese south American joint venture) comodities or security of Guyana land ownership for an instant profift by using REDD or REDD+ , Norway has no agenda to save any rainforest.
Allocated to a Non-excistent body!!!—— is cheap European propergandah , one should never beleive a single quote from Kaieteur News.
i doubt anthony lives in Guyana, if he does, it’s easy to hazard a guess where his loyalties lie, and it’s not with the people of Guyana
like the govt of Guyana Kaiteur News is not to be believed when it exposes the lies, and corruption…today’s editorial and background stories are worth a good read. keep in mind this program is ran out of the office of the president i.e bharrat jagdeo. these guys manufacture scandals and corruption faster than we can track and these are only the ones that leak out as everything in Guyana is a state secret and no one is allowed to talk about nothing
==
Laptop Plunder
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!” We doubt that even Sir Walter Scott could have conceived the tangle our government lackeys not only wove, but actually got themselves into, when they unfurled their One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme. But we in Guyana know the nature of the beast we are dealing with. There is not a programme that this government conceives of, much less implements, without first figuring out how much one or another of its cronies could bilk from the national treasury. Deception is therefore not second nature to this administration and its underlings, but forms the very essence of their beings.
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2011/02/11/laptop-plunder/
Nelly, You do have lots of info.. do you do inside investigations on the people? where did you get the OLPF blunder news? i need to improve my research methodology.
Eugee nothing cutting edge but i can assist you get more info on the plunder that is daily by the Guyana govt
a young lady supposedly who leaked the invoices of over priced laptops has been fired and gave an interview saying she has been threatened by the Permanent Secretary in the office of the president among others [quite commone behaviour by govt officials]
unfortunately the govt of Guyana in power 19 years have fought tooth and nail all attempts at freedom of information bills
nelly (16) man all this is new, was fortunate to have seen some postings since the launch of the June launch of the LCDS. You seem very focused and do have a wealth of info, Q nelly, Ar you Amerindian? you do speak for them that is positive… i worked with some first nations in Quebec and they too are manipulated.. its a global sickness.. fill me in with some more..
19 years in Government? OHHH, i saw where some threat to an indigenous leader was reported… what became of that??
The failed and traumatised critics of Guyana’s LCDs both inside and outside of Guyana are non standing with their mouths open in shame as Norway paid its first traunch in to Guyana’s Redd + Investment Fund (GRIF). Nelly Avila is now disgruntled and is spewing trash and lies about the Office of Climate Change and its officials. Her wild attacks on Shyam Nokta are unjustified and wicked and have transformed the Red Monitor website into a garbage dump for the losers against Guyana’s LCDs. Nelly Avila, therefore instead of being part of the solution against Global climate change, has become part of the problem with her continued CO2 emissions.
Nelly is that the east indian man from one of the indigenous NGO’s? fat east indian man from TAAMOG I think. I can see where his loyalty lies.
Eugee if you click on my name it will take you to my blog and you will find my direct contact info there
i am mixed and know more about what’s going on in Amerindian reservations than peter persaud who is not Amerindian. his org is a political front organisation. he was not in copenhagen on the delegation because they had to hide him. yvonne pearson from wayaka mainstay and toshao [leader] for that community was the show piece. she is now being manipulated and made head of the govt created national toshao’s council
Peter Persaud as you can see is afraid of the truth so he will attack me, or try and this website. that is how they operate in Guyana. personal attack and threats. there is nothing i have said about the office of climate change or sham nokta that cannot be verified in the Guyana newspapers or on Nokta’s own website [if they don’t remove the info that is]
the senior nokta is an ‘environmental advisor/consultant’ in the office of the president…anyone can see him in the photos with the president and the norweigan minister of environment at the signing
as for the release of money, sure Norway has supposedly released money into this account, but none of it, i repeat none of it has been released to the govt of Guyana. there will be national elections in a few months, and it is high
threats again Amerindian Peoples Association pres has been laughed off by govt of Guyana and co.
Nelly Avila is a bogus name and the person hiding behind that name or using that name is a WPA Activist. Stop being a Zombie Nelly and declare your true Identity to the world’s professional leadership or are you ashamed to tell the world that you are a member of the Working Peoples Alliance (WPA) a defunct opposition political party in guyana that once used the slogan “power to the people” Zombie Nelly are u trying to ressurect that dead WPA? Zombie Nelly Avila i am prepared to do battle with you in relation to indigenous peoples and the LCDS providing you tell me your real name, if not i will continue to call you a Zombie or a Kanaima on the Redd-monitor website.
As for Tony James and his life threatening story was a deception since he failed miserably to provide evidence to the police, also using his bogus story to attract founding for the mischevous and political APA.
Nelly, why is Peter Persaud attacking you? he is getting personal and this site is not for that. secondly it does not matter if you were ever in the WPA. You are talking Indigenous, REDD+ and LCDS issues; has that offended him? he is a fat East Indian man heading an Indigenous NGO, just to show how much he and his NGO play in the whole process … they did not take him to Copenhagen, so that speaks volumes. he shows no respect or reverence for his own peoples heritage and cultural practices .. he in-corperates ‘Kaniama’ in a non-relevant topic. I hope some indigenous person come up and demand an apology from him. Nelly, this fat man needs some culturing lessons. I assume there must be more persons like Peter in this thing, i want to know more. hold tight Nelly.
zombie nelly avila is an anti – government of guyana politician and as a result her analysis of guyana’s current affairs lack objectivity and professionalism and therefore it cannot be used for any serious resource reference by the international community. Kanaima nelly who is afraid to reveal her / his true identity to the world and uses a false name is a member of the WPA,a political party, Forbes Burham former president of guyana now deceased once called the “worst possible alternative”(WPA)I am prepared to challenge zombie nelly on indigenous issuses since she / he said that she / he knows more than I do on indigenous peoples.Also she / he was lying to the world when she said that i was hidden away in copenhagen because I was not an amerindian and that my amerindian organisation is a political front. Kanaima nelly behaves like a typical opposition politician in guyana aspiring for Political office at the 2011 elections she / he is against everything the government of guyana is doing for poor people such as the lap top per family (olpf)Project which she / he wants to see destroyed. But zombie nelly will fail and fail miserably and will end up into the garbage dump of Political History. bye Kanaima.
@peter, @nelly and @eugee – please try to keep the discussion within this comments policy:
REDD-Monitor welcomes debate, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the posts.
However, please try to avoid comments that:
* are abusive
* contain ad-hominem attacks
* are off-topic
* promote hate or violence
* use foul language
REDD-Monitor reserves the right to edit or delete comments that do not comply with these five points.
@peter, @nelly, @eugee and @chrislang… man all this fun here and no one invited me..
Chris – I notice you get very concerned at how these guys Eugee, Peter and Nelly exchange their expressions, on your 5 (five) pointers I shall comment later. it just puzzles me why Nelly and Eugee are so focused on derailing the code of conduct on this site,but both seem quite mature and responsible. I have learnt nothing new from Nelly or Eugee and they need to be removed from making any arguments on REDD monitor.. I am surprised to learn that Peter is not Amerindian, regardless he is doing his job for the Amerindians. neither Nelly or Eugee are aggessive as Peter.
Nelly is wallowing in pesimism, my god how could people be so negative and enjoy amenities from the same government she is cussing up and predicting doomsday for?? the human mind can really retrogress.
Thanks Ashton for your comments. My aggresive responce to Nelly Avila is because she is making wild and unsubstantiated comments about the government of guyana and its LCdS, the office of climate change and my organisation taamog.Also thanks to Chris, but please keep Nelly Avila in line with ethics that will bring respectablity to the redd minitor website.
@Peter Persaud
I do not know who Nelly Avila is, or what political pursuasion she may have, but I do note that what she states is at least independently verifiable, and referenced to a source of information.
Your own statements, however, consist entirely of invective, rhetoric and personal insults. Most importantly, I note that you state that Nelly Avila is “an anti–government of guyana politician and…therefore cannot be used for any serious resource reference by the international community”. For someone that claims to speak for an ‘NGO’ that acts on behalf of Guyana’s Amerindian people, that strikes me as very odd – indeed it indicates that the primary purpose of you and your organisation is to defend the reputation of the PPP government, rather than the interests of Amerindians. Clearly, you have little appreciation of democratic debate; some might that say you and ‘TAAMOG’ are in fact nothing but puppets of President Jagdeo’s government. If I am not mistaken, you have already declined to answer elsewhere on this website whether or how much money you receive from the government or the PPP.
This is sad for you but, as one of the many people worldwide that, for various reasons, follow the debate in Guyana closely, I can say that you help us by providing valuable insights into the political dynamics of REDD in Guyana – for which I thank you.
@Chrislang:
I have taken careful notice of the five comments policy you asked to be followed on Redd Monitor’s site or risk being denied contributing.
24. Chris Lang says: 22 February 2011 at 9:53 am
@peter, @nelly and @eugee – please try to keep the discussion within this comments policy: REDD-Monitor welcomes debate, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the posts. However, please try to avoid comments that:
* are abusive
* contain ad-hominem attacks
* are off-topic
* promote hate or violence
* use foul language
REDD-Monitor reserves the right to edit or delete comments that do not comply with these five points.
http://redd-monitor.org/2011/01/27/increasing-deforestation-in-guyana-gives-norway-a-headache/#comment-109923
Surprisingly, this comes late in the game… which category would you place these?
REDD rubber hits the road in Guyana: skid-marks a-plenty
By REDD-Monitor, 13th October 2010
REDD-Monitor would like to suggest some background music for this post. Roger Waters clearly wasn’t thinking of the president of a small Latin American state when he wrote the song in the early 1970s, but it seems strangely appropriate to President Bharrat Jagdeo’s political philosophy: “Money, it’s a hit. Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit.”
The violation of REDD monitor’s comment policy (towards Guyana) begins with the above posting and is done by the one who made the rules – Chris Lang, himself…
This is instigating a round of applause for REDD Monitor’s showering seeds of hate and resentment for an elected leader of a foreign state.
• Its abusive
• It’s off topic
• contain ad-hominem attacks
• promote hate or violence
Violating four of REDD Monitors comments policies. Look hereunder!!
A response from Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Robert M. Persaud
By Chris Lang, 20th October 2010
10nelly avila says: 30 October 2010 at 3:23 am
to all concerned, tread carefully before you believe anything coming from the mouth of Robert Montgommery Persaud he is one of the most incompetent ministers in the western hemisphere. leave out the fact that he is married to a relative of the President and sits on the Central Executive Committee of a communist part that runs Guyana like their personal bank ask the big bad minister with the forestry portfolio how much of Guyana is forested¿ or what`s the real logging numbers¿ or who inspects the containers that arrive to be exported sealed at Georgetown wharves¿ how many cocaine importers have forestry concessions¿ who are the ones in the forestry commission selling tags to their illegal logging friends¿ the govt of Guyana is not trusted by the people of Guyana anyone else venturing down that path is headed for disaster
http://redd-monitor.org/2010/10/20/a-response-from-guyanas-minister-of-agriculture-robert-m-persaud/#more-6087
This comment was proudly posted on REDD Monitor site on date indicated above. No censoring or editing was done (I assume).
Which category of REDD Monitor’s comment policy does this comment qualify for? NONE!!! See. About REDD Monitor – http://redd-monitor.org/about/
It has violated all five (5) comment policies for REDD Monitor and even ventured into character assassination and Chris Lang failed to control this spiral.
• nelly avila says:
http://redd-monitor.org/2011/01/27/increasing-deforestation-in-guyana-gives-norway-a-headache/#comment-109923
1 February 2011 at 2:50 am
We’ve been warning that the world will learn the hard way about the sheer gangsterism, nepotism and incompetence of the jagdeo administration. don’t listen to all his pretty sounding speechs and words
sham nokta is jagdeo´s environmental advisor and head of the office of climate change located in the office of the president. he jet-sets across the world on Guyanese tax payers money pushing his environmental rackets.
sham is the son of former minter of local govt harripersaud nokta who is now an environmental consultant in and around the office of the president. harripersaud can be seen in the photos trailing bharrat jagdeo & eric solheim at the signing of the Norway/Guyana MOU where the 250$US was promised.
Which REDD Monitor comment policy/ies is this comment appropriate to fit into?
Candidly, this comment attacks 3 individuals and not once does Chris Lang makes an attempt to stop it.
All these examples of postings which violate the REDD Monitor Comments policy highlighted on 22 February 2011 at 9:53 am were posted weeks/days before such an intervention and one shows such a posting since last year.
Why was no attempt made to curtail this? Chris Lang has encouraged this scenario to REDD Monitor’s benefit – If one scrutinize carefully they will notice that most of the postings on Guyana’s REDD + and LCDS programmes are riddled and undermined with character assassinations, mischief, dishonesty, untruths and designed to discredit and attribute to mired pool of short-sighted individuals.
REDD Monitor must stop violating its own comments policy also Nelly Avila and others. REDD Monitor seem to be secretly enjoying this. I guess they stepped in after realizing that its front line informer ‘Nelly” was under fire, its all in the game your site designed.
Nelly!! put your helmet on, we are here for a long fight.. these guys are more political and not really concerned with REDD+ and LCDS impact on the stakeholders of Guyana. PPP stooges.
@Chris Lang — my response to REDD Monitor comment policy
why has my comment not been posted?? am I being discriminated against because i spoke the truth? or have I violated these policies too?
@ashton simon (#30) – your comment went into the moderation queue because it contained more than two links. Do try to calm down. I’ve now approved it and it has appeared as comment number 28. I’ll add an explanation to the comments policy that some comments may be moderated and that there may be a delay in the comment being posted.
Thanks for taking the comments policy so seriously. I’m flattered that you’re so concerned. I am in the process of introducing a comments policy because of the discussion that followed this post (dated 5 February 2011). The point of the comments policy is not to restrict freedom of speech, but to encourage a discussion where commentator can feel comfortable that they will not be attacked by other commentators.
There is, however, a difference between a comments policy and a totalitarian attack on freedom of speech. Thank you for pointing out which side you are on.
Regarding the post with Pink Floyd’s “Money” as a suggested backing track. It is not abusive. It is to the point – anyone who hasn’t noticed that REDD is about money hasn’t been paying attention. It does not promote hate or violence – it’s just pointing out Jagdeo’s fascination with all things green. Neither is it an ad hominem attack. It’s clearly meant as a satirical comment – if I’d pointed out that Jagdeo’s REDD policies make no sense because he’s going bald (as am I, incidentally) that would have been an ad hominem attack.
I’ll post the redd-monitor.org comments policy soon. It will not be set in stone – I’ll allow comments on the comments policy and if I feel that it’s necessarily, I will adjust the comments policy accordingly.
@chrislang– thx for the time to comment… actually Chris.. remember that postings whether they are edited or as written has to be read and then interpreted to what ever he/she thinks it was meant to be. most writers pen stuff and leave it to the layman to determine what he/she is saying… and you will agree.. we have differences. others take the readership to be idiotic and push stuff to their benefit.. I hope we are not at this stage… pl do, send me a copy of the adjusted comments policy..will you be doing this upgrade individually? or.. can the readership contribute? I hope it will be a transparent process and will not be referred to as the ‘Chrislang’ policy. thx.
I am however tickled by this – Chris Lang says:
25 February 2011 at 7:25 am
There is, however, a difference between a comments policy and a totalitarian attack on freedom of speech. Thank you for pointing out which side you are on.
I hope your interpretation is correct
@ashton simon (#32) – Thanks for this. I’ll post a comments policy soon. The policy will be open for comments and all the comments will be visible to all (unless, of course, they are in breach of the comments policy).
i will continue to post as i get the time
i do note with interest that mr. you know who & co. has now gone on a tirade against me and not the points i raise. no one can accuse me of making anything up it’s all there…those who have eyes!!!
and everyone in Guyana knows that people in Guyana have been killed, hounded down, brutalised, tortured and disappeared for criticizing our freely elected democratic officials. so why would i use my real name? just ask janet bulkan, freddie kissoon, lincoln lewis, mark benschop, peter ramsaroop, christopher ram, clive thomas, sasenarine singh and on and on and on about victimisation for speaking freely
mr. you know who doesn’t want to know my real name to debate me. i will leave it up to the readers to figure our why he is so interested in me aS opposed to the message. a fired employee home has been raided by plain clothes police who admit they were there on orders from OP [she committed the crime, allegedly, of sharing invoices of laptops OP denied purchasing with a newspaper]
the current leader of the ruling party son is project manager of a $32 million questionable fibre optic cable project [more expensive than a bigger project by the phone company]. the son of another senior party operative & former minister owns the company that signed the deal with a chinese company for this fibre optic cable. [the father was/is also a ‘spiritual adviser to the president].
the Chinese company ‘donated’ 150[?] computers to the president for the one laptop per child program
and as i said before, a former minister and ‘environmental consultant’ in office of the president. his son is head of the office of climate change. a company owned by the son does consultancy work for the office of the president where the son works and also for at least one company in the Amaila falls project. if you’re tracking, the son travels with the president to lobby for funds for these projects
the minister of home affairs daughter is paid by OP. job unknown. the attorney general son, also a lawyer is on the payroll at OP. job unknown and a state secret
i point these things out because even people in Guyana are not aware of these connections and moreso our foreign friends. some of whom have been misled by the slick talk of the Guyana govt and their functionaries
it’s also been widely reported that the minister of agriculture is upset that loggers and logging companies are not increasing productions
he recently said he will be revoking concessions for those not deforesting fast enough [i.e logging more] .. this was at a meeting in Kingston at the Guyana Forestry main office in late january
as the title of this post says, increasing deforestation in Guyana is giving Norway a headache and the minister of agri is calling for more deforestation
the biggest reforestation program in Guyana that i know of has been a colossal failure [the one ran by the Guyana Gold & Diamond Miners Association which is a private body that represents miners. they were assisted by the Guyana Geology & Mines Commission or at least so i heard]
other than the highly questionable mangrove replanting which just started [questionable because we’re not sure what’s happening to the billions received], i’ve never heard of a reforestation program by led by any government agency in Guyana or any other environmental program that does not include dollar$ for project$ ran by friend$ and family of the ruling politico$
i forgot to mention that someone who is supposedly head of an organisation in defense of Amerindian people is using the language of colonizers and oppressors in demonizing me [i refer to the usage of Kanaima which is sacred to all Amerindian people in Guyana, brazil, venezuela and suriname that i know of]
the more these folks talk, they will expose themselves for who they really are. they like to ban and banish opposing views with threats of violence or violent language
expect more demonizing of this site, personal attacks, selective addressing of the issues, wild associations and accusations, demonizing political parties and some presenting themselves as the way the truth and the light…they’re godlike and can do no wrong. never mind the facts
here’s another fact for you…the leader of the govt party has a son [mentioned above] who’s the ‘project manager’ of many multi-mullion dollar programs ran out of the office of the president in amerindian communities…under the guise of REDD, Low Carbon Development etc…about 50 computers were bought and a lab set up in one community up the river past linden [IT development they call it] only one problem…this community has no source of reliable electricity
deforestation will continue to increase in Guyana as long as the persons in charge now continue to run the show. it’s a public secret that some connected big ones are logging on public lands and ‘slipping’ their logs pass the Guyana Forestry Commission inspectors for a fee
Nelly (36) r u afraid to blow the whistle? this site is about thruth and ‘say’ if need be.
@Nelly 36
expect more demonizing of this site, personal attacks, selective addressing of the issues, wild associations and accusations, demonizing political parties and some presenting themselves as the way the truth and the light…they’re godlike and can do no wrong. never mind the facts.
Nelly say the facts of these other godly person/s who are associated with above… let the world know
I am vindicated.Thanks nelly for indirectly telling the world that Nelly Avila is not your real name because of fear of being hounded down. By the way hounded by whom? The political activists who you named as being hounded down are currently enjoying the freedom of expression in Guyana, a country where Democracy flourishes, and nelly you hnow this is factual. The Government of Guyana like anyone else has the right to respond to unfair and unfounded accusations by disgruntled and frustrated Politicians and individuals. Later I will objectively deal with the other issues you have raised in your comments.I have a very busy schedule.
this is why i stick to the issues and stay away from personal dialogue with these lunatics.
now we hear Guyana is a land where democracy flourishes [never mind that govt officials are above the law refusing to answer simple questions like how many ‘consultants’ are in your office mr president? and how much are they being paid?]
freddie kissoon and mark benschop have been locked up numerous times in the past year and both have had numerous attempts on their lives in this flourishing democracy. chris ram waS shouted down and chased out a public forum by none other than the president of this flourishing democracy for daring to ask what happened to the 37 million dollars [teachers pensions & savings etc] president friends ‘invested’ the Bahamas. to date the money remains ‘missing’
am sure the moderator read todays Kaieteur News…don’t buy the deception the govt of Guyana has submitted ZERO projects to Steering Committee
The Guyana Government has not submitted a single project for funding to the Steering Committee which has to approve the projects and allow for the release of Norwegian funds, the Norwegian Government has revealed.
This comes almost three months after President Bharrat Jagdeo derided the World Bank for delaying the release of the funds.
http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2011/02/27/no-projects-submitted-yet-for-norway-funds/
elections coming up so expect to hear how white people trying to control Guyana and tell them what to do etc etc…my guess is they know that none of these ‘projects’ will be approved so they are stalling for time and will come up with some scheme to fund it themselves in a more haphazard and scaled back manner while shopping for more funders
well guyana elections are over. the govt is now the minority in parliament and peter persaud was presidential candidate for a traditionally Amerindian political party his friends in the former govt took control over via their courts.
his prime ministerial candidate was daughter of a former govt minister…
need i say more about peter persaud?
oh! i have to double check but i think they got about 3000 votes which qualifies peter for zero seats in parliament
I am a Guyanese.first time i have seen this site.i must say its very interesting and i must agree with alot of the comments made here.even though the government is now a minority in parliament, they still have a strong hold on the guyanese people, especially those that are ignorant of the unscrupulous, unjust and scampish things done by our corrupt government officials, thought i know that they have done much for the development of guyana over the past ten years.with respect to the Amerindians in guyana, i think they are well off. during the past five years they have been benefitting alot from many programmes that are designed to uplift their way of life.as for the projects that are ongoing such as the amaila falls project, i think the government rushed into the lcds too quickly.as for the deforestation, that is because of the increase in illegal mining activities in our hinterland.also the logging industry is stripping our forests.sometimes in the morning i see log trucks carrying young tree logs and i wonder what kind of system is in place for ensuring logging of suitable sizes of logs and i wonder how much is replanted after logging, my guess is none.ah well…all is in the hands of the Almighty.
Update on the above article
The contractor was incompetent and failed in his ventures. The hydroproject is stalled mabe 2013.
This article is so true!!!!
I think the Norway funds are being used for the wrong purposes.Amerindians in Guyana are being used as scapegoats.
Guyana is not ready for REDD since there is no global mechanism yet. There are caught”with their pants down” because if there is no Global concensus on REDD soon and Norway Money is finished, what next for Guyana??
I personally know that the GFC has already restrict issuing new forest concessions in its bit to satisfy norway. However, the present forest has been “creamed” of comercial species and there is no input by the GFC to promote Lesser used species.
The story goes on……