US$50M loan from India…Another fly by night idea to sink Guyana further into debt

- Nagamootoo  

Alliance for Change (AFC) Vice-Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo is worried that Guyana is being plunged into further debt through a deal that may not have been thought out and fine tuned enough. Speaking on the recent 50M loan that government has been able to secure from India, Nagamootoo said that there is much to be considered before Guyana can count this as a blessing.

President Donald Ramotar

India has approved a new Line of Credit of US$50M for two major projects in Guyana. The monies will fund the East Bank-East Coast of Demerara road link, and a ferry to be used in the North West District area. With regards to the East Coast/East Bank Demerara linkup, Government has for a number of years been talking about constructing a new road which will link Ogle and Eccles. The idea is to ease traffic congestion along the East Bank especially. A major project to upgrade the current Sheriff Street-Mandela Avenue thoroughfare has been seen as not being enough to handle the volume of traffic currently traversing to and from the East Bank Demerara which is a critical link to the Timehri airport, the hinterland and West Demerara. Nagamootoo recently told the media that he has no doubt in his mind that Guyana is badly in need of a road joining the East Coast and the East Bank of Demerara as there is an obvious congestion problem. He said however, that there is much more to be considered before jumping into a project. The long time politician said, “We must also consider the methods by which we go about looking for loans to build infrastructure and that has to do with these fly by night ideas that are being floated.” He added that proper conceptualization, consultations and feasibility studies are needed. To strengthen his point, Nagamootoo said, “Just like the idea of having a new airport. We were told that the only reason the Guyana Government decided to take a loan from the Chinese is because they saw the Chinese, as one Minister said, with a grip load of money, so they couldn’t resist entering into an agreement.” He said that the announcement that the government secured the Indian loan was “dÉjà vu…and it goes right back to whether there has been enough consultation on this issue.”

AFC Executive, Moses Nagamootoo

According to news reports out of India, the deals were initially agreed to after meetings between President Donald Ramotar and Indian Prime Minister. The Indian official has also signaled intentions for India to set up its first IT Centre of Excellence in Guyana. “President Donald Ramotar and I had a very good meeting. We discussed ways of enhancing India-Guyana co-operation,” the Indian Prime Minister tweeted. In the meeting, there were discussions on possibilities of India assisting Guyana, and the Prime Minister has informed that for two major projects, India will be providing a line of credit for approximately US$50 million.