Georgetown: Spearheaded by Former Head of State Bharrat Jagdeo and after much ranting and raving on his part, the Guyana Government is yet to spend a dime of the money stemming from the Kingdom of Norway under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2008. Two tranches from the US$250M promised to Guyana and payable over a five year period have been placed in a Bank Account but Guyana is still unable to spend the money at least not until Norway is satisfied that the checks and balances are in place to ensure satisfactory transparency and accountability.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon following a post Cabinet Press Briefing, which was unceremoniously ended by controversial Press Officer Kwame Mc Coy, informed that there is a renewed sense of hope for an acceleration of the process under Donald Ramotar’s Presidency. Dr. Luncheon told this publication that Guyana’s position on the matter is that, “the money is ours.”
He said too that there is a commitment on the part of the administration to have a transparent and accountable mechanism put in place for accessing the funds.
Dr. Luncheon lamented that the collaboration between the partners in ensuring that a proper mechanism is agreed to has not been properly defined to bring closure in order for Guyana to start spending the money. The partners that Dr. Luncheon spoke of are the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nation’s Development Fund.
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