With Guyana’s push towards a ‘green state’ the Office of Climate Change (OCC) is focusing efforts on several towns by improving their energy use among other initiatives.

Head of the OCC, Janelle Christian said the country’s National Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) has also identified transport, wastewater management and renewable energy, as the priority areas for the ‘greening’ of towns.
Bartica has been chosen as a pilot town while plans are in place for training and capacity building of technical personnel in the others.

Six personnel from Bartica have already been identified for maintenance training, which involves, in part, the management of photovoltaic (PV) systems, which are being installed on all government buildings, through the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA).

Christian noted this will ensure that when these projects are implemented in the other towns, the personnel will be efficient in the management of these systems.

A consultancy firm has been working with Bartica for the past year and a half in identifying some of these initiatives and the OCC is awaiting a report, which is expected at the end of this month. Once the report is finalised, the OCC will mobilise resources for the implementation of the projects. These are being conducted under the United Nations Development Programme’s Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership.