Troubled E-Governance project… Taxpayers saddled with loan repayment
Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran
A few weeks ago, there was the report on how former President Bharrat Jagdeo spent $20B from the treasury in a scheme designed to gain control of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
The money was spent on cables, towers, transmission lines, data centers, and thousands of laptops for poor families. All this was to transform Guyana’s internet and telecommunications sector, thereby putting it on par with the rest of the developing world, Jagdeo had said.
But after billions of taxpayers’ dollars have been expended on the E-Governance project and on the Brazil to Guyana Cable venture, both are yet to be realized. Government has admitted that there are problems and that solutions are being examined to put the Brazil project back on track.
The Brazil project involves running a fibre optic cable from Lethem to the city at a cost of some US$32 M. However, the project has stalled, some say abandoned because of the problem of getting the cable across difficult terrain. The cable breaks repeatedly.
Government had been largely silent on the E-Governance project. It was even silent when it all but abandoned the project.
The matter has since sparked discussions in some quarters and queries, with the private sector and the political opposition, lambasting the government for the collapse of the project.
Anand Goolsarran, a former Auditor General in his most recent column said that he was shocked to learn that after billions of taxpayers’ dollars were expended on government’s Fibre Optic Cable project, it has now collapsed.
More significantly, Goolsarran said that after doing his own research he found that Guyana had taken a loan from a Chinese Bank to back part of the project. With the project stalled, and the monies from the loan completely expended, Goolsarran was concerned that future generations will be saddled with paying off the debt until 2032.
Former President Bharrat Jagdeo
In his most recent column, Goolsarran examined how the venture collapsed and some of the financial irregularities of the project. Goolsarran spoke about some of the financial improprieties of the venture by examining the audited public accounts of the country from 2009 to 2014.
The chartered accountant said, too, that the entire loan and grant resources provided by the China Export Import Bank for the project have been drawn down and expended. The loan is repayable, inclusive of interest, in 31 equal semi-annual installments, commencing March 2017 and ending September 2032.
He emphasized that those responsible for decisions relating to the execution of the project as well as for monitoring it have failed the country immensely.
“They have left us not only without any meaningful tangible assets for the expenditure incurred but also a huge debt burden that future generations will have to repay. Many of those responsible may not be around to witness the completion of the loan repayment,” he said.
The ICT initiatives, benefitted friends and family in key companies that participated in various aspects, and comprised three main projects including the installation of a fibre optic network from Brazil to Georgetown via the Lethem trail. It included the installation and commissioning of wireless and terrestrial network system from Moleson Creek to Anna Regina, inclusive of 54 towers. Also launched was the One Laptop Per Family Programme which targeted 90,000 households.
In 2010, Jagdeo announced that he would provide 90,000 lap tops to poor families over three years at a cost of US$30M. Later that year, he said that Government entered into a contract with a Chinese firm, Huawei, for US$35M.
According to Jagdeo, the main objectives of advancing the E-Governance project was to connect schools, hospitals and the police stations and everything else so that technology can be used in providing better and faster service to the people.
With the three projects and other initiatives, it is estimated that over $20B (US$100M) was allocated in the massive scheme to fashion the internet connectivity from the infrastructure. With the connections, a particular company could be strategically placed to offer landline and mobile telephone services, internet television and radio, and internet connectivity.