Where but in Guyana?

WHERE but in Guyana, at a time of escalating costs for electricity, would a parliamentary opposition vote against legislation and a related motion aimed at realising the country’s biggest and most significant development project?

That action, by itself, may not be surprising for those in Trinidad and Tobago and other Caricom states familiar with the political culture of multi-party democracies where government and opposition MPs can amaze us with unpredictable and nonsensical behaviour.

What was shocking in the Guyana example under review was the refusal by the combined opposition of two parties in the National Assembly—A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance for Change (AFC)—to offer any explanation for using their one-vote majority in the parliament to reject both the bill and the related financial motion.

At stake was the passage of required legislation by next Tuesday (July 30)—-known as the “Hydro-Electric Power (Amendment) Bill 2013”—and related motion, “Guarantee of Loans (Public Corporations and Companies) Act” to facilitate releasing by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) of a US$175 million loan to enable construction of the Amaila Falls Hydro-Power Project deep in Guyana’s interior region of the Essequibo at a total estimated cost of US$840 million.

Prior to last Thursday’s display of  the potency of their one-vote parliamentary majority, the opposition parties were involved in consultations with the government and were given relevant documents on the hydro-power projects—including classified information.

However, to the surprise and deep disappointment of both the government of President Donald Ramotar and the Private Sector Commission (PSC) that represents the interest of the manufacturing and commercial sectors, the coalition voted against the bill and motion.

An evidently deeply shocked President Ramotar, who has been engaged with the opposition parties and the PSC for co-operation to ensure progress for realisation of the hydro-power project, emotionally accused the opposition of calculated “economic sabotage” and “political terrorism”.

The PSC, in opting for a different path to register its own shock, having played crucial roles in encouraging and actively participating in structured consultations for parliamentary approval of the bill and motion, was left to raise a most pertinent question.

Reminding the public about the immense importance of Guyana’s quest to make a reality of hydro-power at this time of skyrocketing costs for imported fuel, the PSC disclosed its awareness of the valuable documents that the government had shared with the opposition, and declared:

“What the PSC is not sure of is what aspects of the (shared) documents the opposition is unhappy about, since those concerns are the best kept secret of the opposition as they have not made those known to the government…”

The PSC has called on the opposition parties to publicly explain “what are their concerns” that could have prevented them from supporting the bill and the motion. Silence remained the opposition’s stance at the time of the writing of this column.

It is a silence that may yet come to haunt the opposition as the government maintains its own political offensive with accusations of “economic sabotage” while not ruling out the possibility of snap general elections. 

One very significant aspect of this major economic/political development is the link already being made by the government with the effort, decades ago, of then president Forbes Burnham to secure hydro-power for a proposed aluminium smelter project utilising bauxite produced in Guyana and Jamaica. Virulent opposition by Venezuela, which resorted to colonial-era claims to Guyana’s territory, was to prove a major hurdle.

Ironically, a fundamental, difference is that Burnham was assured of support for the hydro-power project in the Upper Mazaruni region from the then parliamentary opposition People’s Progressive Party.

Now, however, in July 2013, the People’s National Congress (PNC) of which Burnham was founder-leader and which is now absorbed in what’s known as APNU as the major opposition party, has teamed up with the minority AFC to use a one-vote majority to shatter the very hopes that Burnham had fostered.

The shattering of Guyanese hopes for hydro-power at Amaila Falls is being characterised as part of a tangled web of political deceit.

Keep watch!