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Former Member

In reacting to the parliamentary opposition’s vote against two pieces of legislation for the Amaila Falls Project, President Ramotar told iNews, “This is a very dark day for our country.”

The President told this news site that the Opposition – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) is hell bent on opposing development for Guyana and its people.

President Ramotar briefly recalled the Opposition voting against appropriations to keep consumers from feeling the brunt of increased tariffs and for allowing GPL to improve their service.

Government Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira in her contribution to the debate last night told the House the IDB representatives are currently in Guyana, and met with the APNU and AFC on Wednesday evening but that the meeting gave no indication on the position of the opposition on whether they supported the project.

Additionally, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds revealed that the funds which are already committed to the project are in jeopardy, as those monies have a shelf life.

The Prime Minister believes that the Amaila Falls Project has been “greatly wounded” and that it is a sad day for Guyana. The IDB representatives observed the proceedings of the National Assembly yesterday.

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July 19th, 2013

 

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]

Mitwah

Once again, during yesterday’s sitting of the National Assembly, Guyana stood at the threshold of what must be described as a golden opportunity, not only for the further anchoring and advancement of the transformative process, but also assuring this nation’s access to a permanent supply of renewable energy.  
This  view is emphatic since one expected that the Parliamentary political Opposition parties would have both joined with the Government, yesterday, in ensuring the passage of two  very important pieces of legislation, most vital to the Inter-American Development Bank’s approving funding for the biggest socio-economic  project ever  undertaken in the history of this nation – the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project.
Given the prohibitively high costs of fossil fuel, and the fact that such an item forms a significant fraction of a nation’s annual expenditure, there is no nation that will not welcome the alternative of hydro-power. This fact is well known by especially APNU, the main Parliamentary Opposition party.
Let us be clear on the aspect of national development: that political differences of whatever ideological shade must not impede its progress, since whatever are the benefits can only accrue to the citizens of that particular state. This has been repeated so many times, as a reminder to Opposition political parties in Guyana, that another should not be made.
Yet given the continued nature of the Opposition track record in holding critical socio-economic projects to ransom, it is inevitable that one must again sound this clarion call to the sanctified ideals of nation first.
For a senior APNU Opposition spokesperson to state that his party will not be rushed into supporting the Bills bespeaks of a parliamentary culture that is cavalier and callous, as it pertains to matters of economic development, albeit on the very important issue of alternative source of energy.
That the Executive has been sharing data with the parliamentary political parties and other stakeholders is well documented. Even volumes of documentation have been given to both APNU and the AFC, for their scrutiny and guidance. To note further is the fact that, on a request from this same senior Opposition personality, he and some of his colleagues were taken on a tour of the roadway that leads to the Amaila Falls. There was even a post-visit statement issued in the media that expressed satisfaction with the visit.
Therefore, one does not follow the illogical position of the AFC, that the IDB must approve the loans, for it to give its parliamentary approval. That is demanding an unfair position of this lending institution. It is incumbent that all parties express their unanimous approval, hence affirming their unqualified interest and support for a project of national transformative proportions.  
Given the IDB’s known concern about environmental matters, the passage of the Hydro Electric Power (Amendment) Bill 2013 is mandatory since it allows for the creation of a protected area for biodiversity conversion. This is a reported prerequisite for IDB Board approval of the project.
The second legislative piece, The Guarantee of Loans (Public Corporations and Companies) Act authorises government to raise its guarantee limit from $1B to  $150B (US$750M) that is needed to guarantee the  GPL honouring its  commitment in accordance with the  Powder Purchase Agreement to be joined  with AFHI,  the local company that will be managing the project.  So, one will undoubtedly understand why both Bills are prerequisites for the IDB approval of funding.
What is so difficult for the parliamentary Opposition parties to understand about a project that is about Guyana and its people?

FM

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