February 24, 2016 Source

THE Ministry of Finance has slammed the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) for misleading the public in a missive it wrote to the Norwegian Government, complaining about the Guyana Government’s stance in regard to the current construct of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

In a statement issued on Monday, the ministry said it has noted with concern a letter signed by PPP Chief Whip Gail Teixeira to Per Fredrik Pharo, Director of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative, and has deemed the missive a misrepresentation of the truth. The ministry said Teixeira, in seeking to defend her party’s “farming out” of Guyana’s forests during its time in government, has resorted to her familiar formula of faulty arguments in a vain attempt to score cheap political points and hoodwink the Government of Norway and the Guyanese public by misrepresenting the statement made by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan during his presentation of Budget 2015.

PPP Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira

Teixeira also accused the APNU+ AFC Coalition of “continued lies and attacks on the integrity of the Guyana/Norway partnership on climate change and forests.” However, the ministry said, in peddling this accusation, Teixeira pointed to a statement by Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman that the PPP government had shared out all of Guyana’s productive forest resources, as well as statements by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan in his August 2015 Budget Speech, when he said it would be a downright criminal act of deception were we to proceed with Amaila Falls.

Jordan had said, “Mr. Speaker, this Government is well aware of the importance of clean, reliable and affordable energy for development and the improved welfare of our people. As such, we are prepared to explore every avenue to reduce the cost of energy – including examining the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project. The problem, Mr. Speaker, is that, as currently configured, it would not only be irresponsible, but a downright criminal act of deception were we to proceed with the Amaila Falls.”

The ministry said that Teixeira deliberately omitted the words, “as currently configured”, noting that the minister’s words, in their entirety, clearly convey that the design and approach to the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project as conceptualised by the previous government, has far-reaching financial implications that would have to be borne by the nation. These very implications have been ventilated by many analysts, some in this very newspaper!

Further, in disputing the minister’s statements that the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project would cost the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) US$2.6B over 20 years, Ms. Teixeira asserts that it will in fact save GPL US$2B over the same period, without mentioning the basis for this claim that holds little water (no pun intended), especially given the current environment of depressed fuel prices globally.

During that same presentation, the Minister of Finance made it clear that the identification of Amaila Falls as a potential site for hydropower dates back some 40 years, and that the Government welcomes the diversification of our energy matrix to include clean, sustainable, and affordable sources; but that it must make financial sense!

He also said, “We know now that, as configured currently, the cost of financing Amaila is too high, and that unless the price tag can be substantially lowered, we cannot proceed. In this opinion, we are strongly supported by the experts at the Inter-American Development Bank, who had considered the project to be too risky to attract the Bank’s financing.”

The ministry said this position of the government was reiterated in its communication to the Kingdom of Norway in December 2015; during the COP21 Meeting in Paris; and more recently, during the Minister’s rebuttal to wind up the debate on Budget 2016. “Further, this position has been buttressed by interactions and meetings between the Minister of Finance and Mr. Gerard Johnson, General Manager of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); between the Minister of Finance and the President of the IDB (during a meeting in Washington for the re-election of the President of the IDB); between President Granger and the President of the IDB (during side meetings at the UN General Assembly in 2015); and during the meeting among the Minister of Finance, the IDB and the representatives of the Kingdom of Norway, in Paris in December 2015,” the ministry stated.

It added: “In fact, arising from the discussions of the last meeting in Paris, it was agreed that Norway would engage an international consultant for a final review of the Amaila Falls Project. To date, Norway has proposed a nominee to undertake the review, but the Government of Guyana has requested the submission of three reputable, independent, international consulting firms from which one would be selected by the Government of Guyana to conduct the review.”

According to the ministry, Teixeira’s letter, while riddled with inaccuracies and omissions, is a clear attempt to diminish Guyana’s relationship with Norway and halt the funding received under the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) and other investments.
The ministry said, in saying: “The PPP will have no choice but to support Norway putting on hold projects and funds…

“Ms. Teixeira is trying to sabotage the economy, now recovering from the machinations and contretemps of her party in the pre- and post-elections period. Neither she nor her party will succeed in this latest puerile and unpatriotic attempt at interrupting the growth trajectory that we have set for the economy. The APNU+AFC Government continues to value the relationship with the Government and Kingdom of Norway, and is committed to pursuing a sustainable and green development path to the Good Life for All Guyanese.”