By: Moses Nagamootoo MP

The PPP last night threw the Motion on the floor of Parliament to raise the debt that the Government has to guarantee for public corporations and companies from $1 billion to $150 billion, to stalemate any possibility of cooperation between Government and the Opposition, as if the PPP regime had designed a shut-down of the Amaila Hydro Project, and had identified the Opposition as scapegoats.

The PPP Government wanted to play hardball with Local Government Elections and shut down debate on the laws that could pave the way for these elections this year, and attempted to blackmail the Opposition that, unless they support Amaila related measures, they would not bring Local Government Bills for approval.

When the Opposition sought to place the Local Government Bills up for debate, the Government refused to introduce them, and the Minister of Local Government chose to be the 'dumb-boy', in the Parliament.

The AFC was prepared to support, mas we still do, the amendment to the Hydroelectric Power Bill, which we would like to call the "Flora and Fauna" Bill, if only the PPP would proceed with the Local Government Bill and assure their assent. But the PPP insisted that it was "all or nothing" - that we would have to support the other measure to raise the debt ceiling.

The AFC has taken a principled position that we would approve all Amaila related laws once the IDB, which is undertaking a technical and other review of the project's feasibility, give the Amaila Project the green light. It would be irresponsible for us to guarantee borrowing to the tune of $150 billion and not have informed guarantee that the project is feasible. And this remains our position. To do otherwise would be to abandon the people of Guyana, and to place them in a vicious trap of future debts.

I want to refer to what I said during the 2013 Budget Debate: "Instead of progress, many public corporations are a liability to the people, estimated at some US$281,794,465 or GY$57,204,276,395 (G$57.2 billion) last year. These include the Guyana Power and Light.

I was interrupted when I made these disclosures. I had hit the bull's eye!

The Hansard shows that first, Ms. Teixeira, wanted to get the source of what she described as "very interesting figures". Then, the Finance Minister, in utter bafflement, wanted me to repeat to repeat the figures and to say what they were about.

I said, "it is G$57.2 billion and that is the public corporation liability".

It was at that point that I described GPL as a huge black hole, saying that it is "inefficient; it mismanages; it wastes and it squanders".

I referred to the $6 billion last year, and the additional $11.2 billion requested this year.

As for the other giant state corporation, Guysuco, I pointed out that Government had guaranteed loans in the amount of $29 billion as part of a $47 billion recapitalisation programme, and they are showing nothing for this.

So when this government says it wants to raise the amount of liability of the people of Guyana for loans contracted by state corporations and companies from $1billion to $150 billion, this must raise a red flag.

The PPP and the PNC would continue to do battle over whose administration borrowed the most: In 1992 the inherited national debt, both external and domestic, in Guyana $ "nominal" amount stood at G$263 billion, most of which was written off. This year, the national debt stands at about $380 billion.

We are high on debt, like a drug addict on morphine. We are back in the vicious debt circle, like a dog chasing its own tail. [END]