Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy has said that no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was recommended for the Hope Canal project, based on a recommendation that was later endorsed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Ramsammy was speaking during the consideration of the estimated spending for the ministry in the National Assembly on Tuesday night, when APNU MP Dr Rupert Roopnaraine questioned the lack of an EIA, given the potential danger of the Hope Canal’s location to residential living.
“An environmental management plan was done… an [EIA] was not done because the consultants that developed the project recommended that an EIA was not needed,” he noted, while adding that prior to the start of the Hope Canal’s construction, the EPA concurred with that recommendation. “Whether we should have done it or not, we are deep into the project now,” he said.
Ramsammy said that the drainage issue would be corrected this year. He said that as the canal was being constructed, the soil was very soft and there was spillage over the 300ft span. He added that the ministry did speak to farmers because an additional 20ft could have been used in the construction, but while some farmers agreed others did not want to lose land and as a result the ministry has been waiting for the earth to compact. Compensation was offered to farmers whose livelihoods were being adversely affected by the canal construction and their concerns had reached the Ministry of Finance, he also said.
Spending on the Hope Canal project was among items that faced potential cuts, amounting to $814.8M, by the opposition. However, the ministry’s budget was cleared without any trimming of planned allocations after explanations by Ramsammy.
APNU MP Carl Greenidge asked about the selection process for various drainage and irrigation support projects, for which proposed spending has increased by $83.5M over last year’s figure. Ramsammy noted that he had to make decisions based on the technical experts that are in the ministry, while adding that projects were based on technical advice and areas which had the most concern. He stated that the $1.4B allotted for drainage and irrigation was mainly for acquiring 14 fixed and mobile pumps as well as the Hope Canal works.
Ramsammy acknowledged that the 2012 budget allocation for drainage and irrigation was underspent, after AFC MP Moses Nagamootoo stated: “I found it very contradictory… in Parliament, we voted in excess of $2B but the ministry only spent $595M and I want to ask why is it that there was an under capacity to spend what Parliament is providing for agriculture in Guyana?”
But Ramsammy explained that funds were not spent because the 14 pumps did not reach Guyana by the deadline. The acquisition of the fixed and mobile pumps is integral to the ministry’s disaster risk management plan. “We’ve always had a plan. Last year, we drafted a new disaster risk plan… there is now a ministry sub-sector plan that was finalised, I recall, sometime in January,” he said, while adding that he would distribute it to the National Assembly.
APNU Region 10 MPs Vanessa Kissoon and Pastor Renis Morian tackled Ramsammy about specific regional works. The minister noted that drainage and irrigation rehabilitation and construction works were ongoing at West Watooka. “That started last year. A contract of $18.7M was given out. So far, we’ve paid $4.5M and $14M is to be paid this year,” he said, and he produced documentation for the House to distribute in relation to projects that are ongoing or projected.
Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan raised the $500M in supplementary funds that was allocated for assistance with drainage and irrigation last and asked how the money was spent. He also inquired about the $700M that was allocated for community drainage and irrigation projects in 2013.
Ramsammy produced records to show that the $500M was used to procure excavators and tractors as well as a list of community drainage and irrigation projects.
Meanwhile, APNU’s Volda Lawrence inquired as to what is being put in place to ensure that all equipment for drainage and irrigation works, including excavators, pumps, bulldozers, and drag lines, are not being used by persons for their own personal benefit. “This has indeed been a challenge. We have been providing services not only to do public works but also to help farmers to do individual work. I have said publicly before that there are elements that sometimes some of the operators also do private work,” Ramsammy admitted.
He noted that the ministry does have more “vigorous” supervision and that project cost and length of time for completion is monitored so that data can be collected for future projects. He said that the ministry is closely monitoring the amount of fuel used for public projects and said that a system was in place to have a fuel depot that directly receives shipments from GuyOil, which will make record keeping streamlined.
Education budget
During consideration of the estimates between Tues-day night and Wednesday morning, the proposed allocations for education, foreign affairs and legal affairs were also approved in their entirety.
There were no cuts proposed for the Education Ministry’s budget but Minister Priya Manickchand did face questions over the restoration of a subvention for the Critchlow Labour College and a proposal to hike University of Guyana (UG) tuition fees.
When questioned by APNU MP Trevor Williams, Manickchand said that the $8.95B for tertiary education was not inclusive of any funding for the college. When pressed to further explain, Minister Manickchand said, “I don’t think I can give a whole answer… I think it was another minister in the government that has more engagement with the college.” She, however, eventually admitted that she “would be reluctant to answer that question.” It was also revealed that there was no budgetary provisions made for the GAWU technical institute either.
Manickchand also had to answer APNU MP Deborah Backer’s questions about the possible hiking of UG tuition fees. Neither the ministry nor the government has adopted a position either way on the increasing of tuition fees, she said, while adding that many times institutions “employ measures that may seem harsh, but that are necessary for the sustenance of those institutions.”
Backer noted that Article 27 of the constitution ensures the right of every citizen to free education from nursery to university, which is further supported by Article 39, which sets out the guiding principles and objectives for the Parliament, the government, the courts and all other public agencies.
She said that the opposition would encourage dialogue with the government on tuition fees. “We have to do everything as a nation to ensure that tuition fees at the University of Guyana, both campuses, are not raised in the foreseeable future,” she said. Both UG campuses will receive $827M in infrastructural development and education benefits under this year’s budget.
