GOVERNMENT OF GUYANA - PRESS RELEASE
Written by Gina Webmasters, Published in News, February 25, 2015, Source - GINA
On February 25 a local Non Governmental Organisation issued a press release that tries to attack the progress being made in the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project by drawing incorrect and misleading implications of a recommendation made for Norway’s Pension Fund. The opposition-aligned NGO’s allegation is largely based on a corruption case in China that involves state-owned China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC). CREC is a parent company of China Railway Group that is in turn a parent company of China Railway First Group, which is the actual partner on the Amaila Falls Project. The main parent company, CREC, is one of the world’s largest firms and has hundreds of subsidiary firms under its umbrella. Therefore, it’s very misleading and nonsensical to draw such a comparison with the partner company of the Amaila Falls Project.
The NGO fails to point out that the Amaila Falls Project, by virtue of being developed under the governance of the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), will adhere to the IDB’s strict and internationally recognised standards. As a member of the IDB, the Government of Norway endorses IDB’s policies including its financial and fiduciary safeguards.
The integrity concerns raised by the NGO are based on allegations made for projects taking place in China. The safeguard policies for these projects are very different from the strict IDB safeguard policies followed in the Amaila Falls Project.
For instance, in the recommendation quoted by the NGO it is stated that
“…The CRG [has not] established a whistleblowing mechanism that allows all employees to give notice of corruption incidents anonymously and without the risk of subsequent sanctions.”
Whereas, the IDB has strong mechanisms to protect whistleblowers.
The Government of Guyana follows high standards and will continue to defend against baseless attacks that try to derail Guyana’s development.
The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project has best in class international partners and is being developed according to the highest standards, and it will deliver transformative social and economic benefits for the people and economy of Guyana.
The Government of Guyana remains fully committed to realising these benefits for all Guyanese.
February 25, 2015