The PPP/C’s move to have the government reveal the causes of frequent blackouts in the country and measures it would take to end them was defeated late Monday night even as both sides played the blame game as to who was responsible for state of the Guyana Power & Light, while the opposition maintained that the controversial Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) remained the only hope for the country to access clean, reliable electricity.
Eight speakers addressed the motion taken to the House by PPP/C’s front bencher Juan Edghill,
who spoke twice. And while the government speakers in their presentations gave some of the information requested in the motion, in the end they used their one-seat majority to defeat the motion.
The motion was one of two debated in the House—the other being to have zero-rated VAT restored on certain items—and the many speakers on both motions meant they were the only two addressed during Opposition Day.
All of the arguments by the opposition spoke of the hardships Guyanese were experiencing from the constant blackouts, with government not doing anything to offer some relief; those on the government side, while admitting that there were indeed problems, said they did not start with this administration and that plans were afoot to address them.
PPP/C member Odinga Lumumba claimed that “blackouts had basically disappeared under the PPP/C,” but were back again. His colleague Dr Vindhya Persaud said she felt that there was a “dark tunnel with no light at the end.”
However, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin gushed, the “dark days are over, the dark nights would soon be over.” And the warning by Minister of Social Security Amna Ally that the motion would not “see the light of day” was in the end proven true.
There was a sometimes raucous mood in the House and at one time Edghill complained bitterly that he was the butt of religion-laced jokes and was given no protection, to which his colleague Anil Nandlall shouted “Halleluiah!” and Minister of State Joe Harmon chimed in with an “Amen”. Edghill did not get a response from Speaker Dr Barton Scotland but the two did clash at the end of the debate, when Edghill sought to have a clause which had been removed from the motion reintroduced.
When presenting the motion, Edgill pointed out that a clause, which dealt with asking the government to lay the Norconsult report on the Amalia Falls project among other studies in the National
Assembly, was removed by what he said he thought was a mistake. However, he was later informed by the Speaker that it was no mistake and that he had removed the clause. Just as the Speaker was about to put the motion to vote Edgill stood up and read the clause and asked that it be replaced using the Standing Orders to support his move which also had the backing of his Chief Whip Gail Teixeira.
The Speaker sternly informed Edgill, who made another attempt, that he had removed the clause and that it was a decision he would have to abide with. The Speaker himself, perhaps because of the late hour, caused a few seconds of confusion when he said “the ayes have it” after the motion was put to the vote and there was a resounding no. Teixeira was quick to say that he ruled the ayes have it and the motion should go through but her elation was short lived.
The whereas clause of Edghill’s motion apart from asking the government to inform on the causes of the blackouts and what was being done to end same also requested that the National Assembly call on GPL and the government to abide by the procurement laws of the country and ensure that contracts are fairly and transparently awarded so that the programmes in place for the sector could proceed with no further delays. Further, it asked that the government unveil its long-term strategy for the sector through a national consultative process without further delay.
Its mover said it “seeks to address the frustration of the Guyanese people because their suffering Sir, is unbearable. We don’t want to get back to the days of three-week blackouts…” while adding that any government that was serious about economic development must pay attention to electricity.
“This motion is seeking to bring clarity to the Guyanese people whose representatives travel to international conferences and make fancy statements and the people here don’t know how we getting there, we want to know,” Edghill said adding that the nation cannot continue to accept the approach that “we just got in, we are getting our feet wet… We are approaching two years.”
Amaila Falls
Edghill indicated that he would have been happy to stand to praise the government for implementing the Amaila Falls project, which he claimed would reduce the cost of electricity by at least 50%. He colleagues after him also made the same claim and accused the government of sabotaging the project that could only mean well for the country.
Minister of Telecommunication Cathy Hughes, who recalled that the country had been plagued with blackouts since before she studied for CXC using gas lamps and candles and as such it was an issue that has been with Guyana for over 40 years, said the project was shrouded in secrecy from the inception. She implied that this could have led to the then opposition not supporting the project.
“You was not the PR?” asked a member on the opposition side to which Hughes responded, “Yes I served as the PR officer and I know it was a deliberate ploy by the government not to share information with the opposition.” She also spoke about the “road to nowhere,” which was being built to support the project and was eventually abandoned under the former government after millions of dollars were spent.
Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman refuted claims by the opposition that the Norconsult report was not public, stating that in fact it was released along with a press statement from the government. He said government welcomed a debate on the issue since renewable and clean energy was where Guyana has to go.
“The very report that is now being paraded it says that we must now for the next three years gather data on the hydrology on water-flow. So it is not a ready packaged and can go project,” he said even as Teixeira questioned whether this was really in the report.
Trotman said the report indicated that this was the way to go since there was no empirical study supporting the flows of water at Amaila. He maintained that the project cannot be ready until another three to four years and as such it was not true to say “that Amaila is available to Guyana and that the government is not using it.” He also promised that the various reports that address renewable electricity will be presented in “due season” and consultations will also be had in “due season” with those who “are deserving of being consulted with. We have nothing to hide and the Amaila project, as we are saying, is not ready to go but we are prepared to examine it as we are prepared to examine a number of other like projects with similar or greater capacity to Amaila.”
The main parties in the governing coalition – APNU and the AFC – have been opposed to the 165 MW AFHP on various grounds including its US$858.1 million price tag. However, Norway appeared to favour the project and after the APNU+AFC government took office in May 2015, the two sides agreed in December 2015 on an “objective and facts-based” assessment of the AFHP for a decision on the way forward. In Norconsult’s December 12, 2016 report, it was stated that the AFHP was the fastest way forward for Guyana to realize its green energy ambitions. Per Pharo, Director of Norway’s Inter-national Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) later told Stabroek News that the report was not a “decision document” but merely said that the project was worth another look.
Resounding no
Meantime, Minister of Public Works David Patterson, who has direct responsibility for GPL, said that he would give a “resounding no” should he be asked if he was satisfied with the performance of the power company but that the company could and was in a position to do better.
“I hereby acknowledge that more work has to and will be done in relation to GPL,” the minister said.
And responding to Irfaan Ali’s question about the whereabouts of 125 solar panels bought and paid for by the then Office of the President, Patterson indicated that they were “never ever delivered. Half of them are stored in the compound of GEA in containers. Reason why we haven’t received it yet [is] the company disappeared. They did not go out of business, they disappeared so we have the Vice-president of Foreign Affairs [Carl Greenidge] contacting his colleagues…to see if he can find the company…”
Both Patterson and his junior Annette Ferguson, in response to Persaud who questioned whether the company – Power Producer and Distribution Inc which took over the management of the supply stations of the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) from Wartsila – would be effective said that it would be. Persaud also questioned whether the company would have to pay more to access spares and technical assistance from Wartsila.
“What is wrong with 194 well-trained Guyanese operating a company here?” questioned Patterson pointing out that for quite some time the maintenance was done by a 100% Guyanese team “and we were paying $25,000 a day…, yes US$25,000 a day.”
Ali, in his presentation, touched on the Doing Business in Guyana Report and steps to be taken to have reliable electricity in Guyana. Patterson noted that Gaskin had reported that a consultant has been hired and will work towards reducing the steps in the report from 22 to 17 and even less later.
And what must sound like music to the ears of residents of Bartica who bore the brunt of blackouts in recent times the minister announced that his ministry has procured engines for Bartica and they are on their way. Also, three engines have been purchased for Anna Regina, which will be installed by March and so “Anna Regina will be bright, the Essequibo Coast will be shining.”
