Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh on Monday again urged the parliamentary opposition to offer unequivocal support to the Amaila Falls Hydro-Power Project (AFHP), while warning that failure to do so could cost the country.
“If we are asking the international community to support this project, then the very least we can do in Guyana is to demonstrate in Guyana that we support it too,” Singh told a PPP news conference at Freedom House, where he emphasised that finances have to be secured this year.
His statement came in wake of the caution by APNU and the AFC on government’s moves to increase the debt ceiling for the project and to amend the Hydro Electric Act, which may not receive their support at Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly.
Singh on Monday called the passage of the motion on the debt ceiling and the Hydro Electric Act amendment by the end of July “critical” to effectively manage timelines for the project, based on the government’s discussions with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
He added that the expectation by various stakeholders was that critical deadlines be met. “We have to secure financial close and that is critical because we have an EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) contract that has limited validity… financial close has to be accomplished by the end of this year. Indeed, we were hoping to get it by the third quarter of this year,” he said, before explaining that the project had to commence within the year to fall in the price validity period of the EPC agreement.
But even as time runs out, Singh poured scorn on the need to compromise with the political opposition to ensure the “critical deadlines” are met.
When asked if the government was willing to compromise with APNU and the AFC to facilitate parliamentary support for both the motion and the amendment, Singh noted that the opposition was “holding development ransom” by trying to exploit the situation.
He pointed to opposition calls for the signing into law of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Bill and the Former Presidents (Facilities and Other Benefits) Bill, which he noted were vetoed by President Donald Ramotar because he was advised that they were unconstitutional.
Singh stated that compromising made little sense because all of the issues had little connection. “I find it rather alarming that the opposition sees nothing wrong with this kind of horse trading. It is almost as if to hold the nation to ransom; that is to say, ‘unless you give in to our demands we are prepared to undermine and oppose development in this country,’” he said.
Singh also called out the AFC for standing by the project yet refusing to show support in parliament. He said that if the AFC was waiting on the IDB to fully support the project, it reflected poorly on Guyana as a whole.
He added that the AFC’s position was difficult to comprehend and Guyana could not afford to be “ambiguous with the signal we send” to international stakeholders.
The opposition, however, has not been fazed by the government’s pleas and on Sunday both the APNU and the AFC said that their support was dependent on the IDB’s due diligence.
APNU leader David Granger has stated that he was not impressed with the government’s deadlines and that after years of being left out of the conversation, the coalition needs to speak with all relevant project officials to “get up-to-speed” on what has been done and what needs to be done. Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan has stated that due to the complexity of the projects he was reliant on the IDB expertise and would await information prior to making decisions. Ramjattan recently noted that the government has repeatedly spoken about “critical deadlines” but no real dates have ever been given. Earlier in the year, he had told Stabroek News that during tripartite discussions, Ramotar failed to produce updates on the project in a timely manner.
But Singh noted that this project is being developed not solely by government but through collaboration with “credible international partners.” He added that Sithe Global, the IDB and the China Development Bank fully supported the project and as a result Guyanese stakeholders could “at the least” do the same.
