President Donald Ramotar has dubbed the opposition’s rejection of a bill and motion dealing with the Amaila Falls Hydroelectricity Project is an “act of terrorism against the development of Guyana” and said that their actions place the project in jeopardy.
Meantime, the Inter-American Development (IDB) is preparing to meet with officials here to discuss their plans going forward following Thursday’s defeat of the two matters relating to the ambitious US$840M Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.
The opposition had voted against the Hydro Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, a piece of legislation aimed at making the Amaila Falls Hydro project compliant in terms of sustainable development and the environmental policies of the IDB which is one of the prospective high-profile financiers of the project. They also blocked the passage of the motion whose resolve clause would have seen the increase of the limit for loan guarantees, a requirement to allow the Guyana Power and Light to have a Power Purchase Agreement with the Amaila Falls Hydro project.
In a televised address last evening, Ramotar said it was a sad day for Guyanese but government will press ahead in seeking to provide cheap and reliable energy. “We will not be swayed by narrow-minded political agendas looking to stymie our development thrust,” said Ramotar. “We will persevere. We will continue to act in the best interest of our Guyanese people. I ask you to support your government in this pursuit. As your President, my action will only be in your best interest and the progress of this nation,” he said.
Speaking of the opposition, Ramotar said: “Their actions now place the Amaila Falls Hydro-electric project, the largest project in Guyana’s history, in jeopardy.”
He said that government made it clear that support of the Bill was a pre-condition to complete due diligence by the IDB and that the legislative amendment was expected to be completed by the end of July. “Government has met with the joint opposition on numerous occasions to brief them, supplying them with all information requested and answering all questions asked. There is no question that they asked which was not answered. At least 3 technical presentations were made (March 2012, March 2013, June 2013). We’ve held several political meetings also. We invited them to tour the access road that leads to the proposed site,” he said.
Noting that the opposition had various meetings with other stakeholders, he said that these included the IDB and Sithe Global. The president said that over the last 18 months, government, Sithe Global, IDB and other parties have maintained an on-going dialogue with the opposition.
Meantime, IDB Country Representative Sophie Makonnen in a brief response to questions from Stabroek News, said the democratic processes of member countries are “ extremely important” for the IDB and “we have the utmost respect for their outcomes.”
“We have taken note of the proceedings and their results at the National Assembly on July 18th and the subsequent pronouncements regarding the implications of these for the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project,” she said. “The Bank is looking forward to meeting with the national authorities at their earliest convenience to discuss their plans going forward,” Makonnen added. She did not respond to questions about whether the outcome will affect the Bank’s financial participation in the project or whether it would have any bearing on the outcome of the due diligence underway. Meanwhile, Ramotar said that electricity is one of the most basic needs of a population. “The need for and impact of cheap electricity is not something that any reasonable person should think is open for debate,” he said. “We have spoken about this many times before. Hydro Power will bring great benefits to every single Guyanese,” he said.
“In the first place it will bring to an end the blackouts that even though reduced, are still an annoyance and an inconvenience. It will bring down the cost of electricity to consumers by between 25 – 40% of what we pay now. It will also allow us to reduce our carbon footprint further and earn millions of US dollars in carbon credits,” the president added.
He said that the project will save the country billions from reducing the importation of fuel oil for the generation of electricity. “Indeed at today’s price we would save as much as G$40 billion per annum,” he said.
“With cheap energy we can do much more processing – more value added and we can build a vibrant manufacturing sector. All of these will create many jobs and enhance the technical capacity of our working people. It has the potential to increase investments and enhance our country’s competitiveness internationally,” he asserted.
Noting that Amaila is a Build Operate and Transfer project, Ramotar emphasized that 20 years after operating it will belong to all Guyana. “The life of the station is expected to be at a minimum of 75 years. This means that at least for 55 years the cost of generating electricity from that station would be just its operational cost,” he said. The president stressed that hydro-power in Guyana is overdue by a generation. “And [Thursday], the opposition in Parliament, in spite of all of the explanations and reasons on the necessity of completing the various activities in Parliament, took action to further delay it,” he said. “Moreover, despite no serious objections by the Opposition in any of these fora, the Joint Opposition still voted against the bills. More troubling is that they fully understand the negative ramifications for Guyana’s development,” he said. “Yesterday, the opposition continued to hold the project hostage to other demands by voting down Amaila. This politics of blackmail will not get us anywhere,” he stated.
