Despite overtures from the government, the main opposition, APNU and the AFC yesterday reiterated their intention to proceed cautiously on the motion to increase the debt ceiling for the Amaila hydro project as well as amendments to the Hydro Electric Act suggesting that the matters may not receive their support at Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly.
In a statement on Saturday, Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh expressed concern that progress with the Amaila Falls Hydropower project could be threatened as critical deadlines are looming and dates on certain commitments expire this year. “Decisions on the matters at the upcoming Parliament meeting are critical to ensuring that the IDB (Inter-American Deve-lopment Bank) timetable for the Board’s consideration of the transaction is achieved,” the statement said.
In June, Singh tabled a motion so that the debt ceiling on external loans could be increased. The motion seeks to increase the limit on total guarantees that can be issued under the Guarantees of Loans (Public Corporations and Companies) Act from $1 billion to $150 billion or approximately US$730 million. This is as a means of guaranteeing that Guyana Power and Light is able to purchase the power that the Amaila Falls Hydropower station will generate.
Meantime, Clause 3 of the Hydro-Electric Power (Amendment) Bill 2013 confers on the President the power to create the Hydro Electric Offset Reserve area. It also increases the penalty to $1 million for the breach of regulations made under the Act. This legislation is in response to IDB environmental standards for hydroelectricity power generation facilities.
These two matters will be considered by the National Assembly on Thursday.
“We are not impressed with the deadlines,” Opposi-tion Leader David Granger had told Stabroek News recently. “We will not be rushed into making any decisions.”
He said that after not being privy to information on this and other projects for several years, APNU is trying to “get up-to-speed” by interacting with the relevant officials on these projects as well as by reading documents which have been made available recently. According to Granger, the Amaila Hydro-power project is so large that its failure may cause great harm to the country’s economy. As such, he said, it is unlikely the party will come to a decision in a matter of days since “we want to make sure that this does not become another white elephant as is the case with the Skeldon Sugar Factory.”
Yesterday both APNU and the AFC reiterated that their support is contingent on the results of the IDB’s due diligence.
APNU parliamentarian Joseph Harmon said that the party will be guided by the IDB’s assessment and added that members of the National Assembly may need more time to study the Hydro Electric (Amendment) Bill. He explained that since it was brought to the National Assembly, the government has made further amendments. As such, he said, if a decision was made to pass the Bill then it would have had to be re-tabled before Thursday’s sitting for deliberation on these additional amendments. According to Harmon, this is a signal that government is not taking its time on these very important matters, a practice APNU does not want to replicate. APNU is desirous of making good, strong laws which takes time, he said.
The parliamentarian asserted that members of the National Assembly would need time to consider the additional amendments made by government. The days which lie ahead of Thursday’s sitting do not leave much time for a thorough examination of the amendments, he said.
Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan, meanwhile, said that the AFC is determined to make the best possible decision on the matter. He pointed out that the project is quite complex while adding that his party does not have experts capable of making the necessary assessments. The IDB though, he said, has the necessary resources and will be making available a number of facts relating to the project. A green light from the AFC on these matters, Ramjattan said, will be influenced by a green light from the IDB on the project.
In its statement, the Ministry of Finance said that untimely Parliamentary support will threaten the projects as “critical deadlines are looming and expiration dates in certain commitments expire this year.” Stabroek News failed in its attempts to contact Singh yesterday in an effort to have him specify the deadlines and expiration dates he alluded to.
Government is expected to make financial closure for the US$840 million project sometime around the third quarter this year and this too is contingent on the findings of the IDB’s due diligence, currently ongoing and expected to be completed by the end of July. The project’s success is also dependent on the completion of the access road, which has been plagued by setbacks from the beginning, including the changing of contractors.
