Politicians must not allow Amaila to become another Skeldon Plant or Berbice Bridge – Dr. Janette Bulkan

By Abena Rockcliffe, August 4, 2013, By chris, Filed Under News, Source

“Even if late in the day, now is the time to have expert independent input and check on the project developer’s figures, to inform the members of all political parties in the National Assembly and civil society in general.  It is surely not acceptable for the Government to try to co-opt individuals by taking them into private meetings and showing them documents; that is neither transparency nor the freedom to receive information which is assured by Article 146 of the National Constitution.”

The saying, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” was the stark reminder of Dr. Janette Bulkan, as she appealed to politicians to not have the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project become a repeat of the Skeldon Sugar Factory or the Berbice River Bridge.

“Guyanese cannot afford to subsidise another investment like the Berbice River Bridge.”

Dr. Bulkan is an anthropologist who has been quite vocal on issues regarding Guyana’s forestry practices and more recently the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.

Dr. Janette Bulkan

In a recent open letter to the media, Bulkan urged that politicians be cognizant of the mistakes Guyana made in the past as it relates to project investments. She singled out as glaring examples the Berbice River Bridge, the Skeldon Plant and the controversial Marriott Hotel.

Dr. Bulkan is asking for parliamentarians to seek a ’Green Paper’ which she said will help to avert another failed project.

A ‘Green Paper,’ can be defined as a discussion document intended to stimulate debate and launch a process of consultation on a particular topic.

It usually presents a range of ideas and is meant to invite interested individuals or organizations to contribute views and information.

It may be followed by a ‘White Paper’—an official set of proposals.

Bulkan said that a ‘Green Paper’ should be independently done on the Amaila Falls project.

Contacted yesterday, she told Kaieteur News that an independent expert opinion on the Amaila project “is very well needed.”

Bulkan who emphasized that she is a “concerned citizen,” advised that such a document will weigh the pros and cons of the Amaila project.

In her appeal to politicians, Bulkan expressed that “the briefings provided by the Sithe Global/Blackstone Group to the Parliamentary Sectoral Committees on Natural Resources and Economic Services and to the National Stakeholders Forum are no substitute for a Green Paper that includes the findings of independent objective technical and financial assessments.”

She referred to the National Stakeholders’ Forum on Wednesday last, where “Sithe Global stressed that it had spent US$16M and six years so far on the Amaila project; although it was not explained how the money had been spent other than ‘hundreds of scientists working on environmental issues” and said that it was odd that there are no published reports from these hundreds of scientists in the public domain.

Dr Bulkan, in her appeal requested politicians to adequately register the need for an independent green paper.

“If Guyanese taxpayers had had the benefit of an external review, we might have been spared the debt burden of the white elephant named Skeldon Sugar Factory whose costs to date are US$200M, and counting.”

She added that Guyanese might have had an alignment of the Berbice River Bridge that did not turn New Amsterdam into a backwater settlement; a toll that did not cost G$2,200 per car versus the Demerara River Bridge toll of G$200 per car.

“While the Berbice River Bridge was being constructed, the majority of poor Berbicians might have thought that they would be paying the same toll as the Demerara River bridge commuters. They lost corn and husk: there is no alternative cheap ferry. They must use the Berbice River Bridge. Wealthy investors are the principal beneficiaries of that bridge; the State has been foregoing revenues so that the privileged investors can earn dividends,” Bulkan stated.

She also said that the use of taxpayers’ money to fund the construction of a casino/hotel named the Marriott, by a Chinese company, using Chinese labour, and that will bring no named social or economic benefits to Guyana, could have also been avoided.

“Dr Luncheon has already signaled that the casino will be sold…Guyanese have been speculating on the identity of the likely beneficiaries. We would not have embarked on an unnecessary expansion of the Timehri Airport at great social and economic cost.”

“The drip, drip, drip of varying estimates of the component costs of this major construction project and associated commercial debts give no confidence that the Government knows what it is agreeing to with Sithe Global Inc. – whose only other venture into hydropower is the expensive and poorly-managed construction at Bujagali in Uganda, although the same personnel working for another Sithe company are said to have built other hydels. No details were provided other than a dam in Philippines.  Sithe clearly does not want to get sucked into questions about the management and capabilities of GPL and whether GPL can pay the future debt in full and on time.”

Bulkan also pointed out that the current draft agreement commits to Sithe getting the first cut of GPL income paid into Republic Bank, before GPL itself gets any money to pay its own costs.

However, Blackstone/Sithe confirmed that they would be willing to assist in the preparation of a Green Paper to the National Assembly, laying out objectively, in sufficient detail, the pros and cons of different options for future supply of electricity, including the final line item costs to the Guyanese taxpayer. Until now, the Government appears to have been considering only the single option of Amaila Falls and only cost estimates provided by the project partners.

“Even if late in the day, now is the time to have expert independent input and check on the project developer’s figures, to inform the members of all political parties in the National Assembly and civil society in general.  It is surely not acceptable for the Government to try to co-opt individuals by taking them into private meetings and showing them documents; that is neither transparency nor the freedom to receive information which is assured by Article 146 of the National Constitution,” Bulkan said.

“I hope that our Parliamentarians will think long and hard before voting for something that could turn into another Berbice Bridge — one in which most of the benefits are privatized, even while all the costs are socialised.  We do not need another Berbice Bridge — the costs borne by the average Guyanese, a cash cow for the private investor.”