Dear Editor,
I can understand, but not condone, Governments making bad policy if they are not just stupid. They must have mortgaged their integrity to some entity other than to their country: like in the insistence that 34 is the minimum majority of 65 until we have to be told by the CJ and the CCJ; like in the foolish attempt to rig the 2020 elections; like in the recent announcement of appealing a judgement in favour of their own people; and like in the continued pursuit of the Gas-to-Energy project (GtE) despite the arithmetic demonstrating bad economics with respect to a solar alternative, even for only the components that have so far been revealed to the people.
But why should MP Jermaine Figueira support the GtE? [SN 2022-05-08] Does he really understand what responsibilities the Gas Processing and Generation of electricity requires? What does he know about transmission and distribution? His nonsensical offhand mention of nitrogen fertilizers betrays hearsay acquaintance with the processes: “Products such as Nitrogen Fertilizers, is one such that can be used to establish a nitrogen plant.” Which comes first, the plant or the product? We don’t expect our politicians to know everything (even though many think they do) and to not make mistakes sometimes, but this kind of thoughtlessness is not a recommendation. Unless curbed early, it can grow into incompetence.
Hon. Mr. Figueira mentions the word “reliable” seven times, but he does not seem to realize it is an adjective, an important one, but not a consequence of the thing it is describing: “Editor, one advantage of Gas-to-energy is the provision of reliable power supply, and a possible end to frequent blackouts.” But even by the end of the sentence the reliability is diluted to a possibility. He has to realize, in no uncertain terms, that reliable power supply = end of frequent blackouts! Reliability is first a consequence of good conception and design. As far as I know this is an article of faith with the EIA for GtE generation of electricity waived. After design comes construction, each part certified to be reliable to published standards and inspected and tested when put together. Next comes operation and maintenance. This means steady work by each worker according to standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The diligence required of each worker is the same as the consistent kind that the recently departed Joan Christiani put in every day while at the National Library. God will recognise such work, but it would help considerably when the work is valued for its part in our earthly development. All this requires competent management. We already have a bad example of EEPGL mismanaging in our waters by deliberately operating over the safe design limits and trying to blind us to safety by distracting the incompetent government regulators with the greater quantity of oil being produced. A good example is the management of the National Stadium at Providence, which benefited from good design. Another is the Demerara Harbour Bridge, which was designed to be maintenance intensive, allowing low capital input.
The Skeldon Sugar Modernization Project (SSMP), the Glass Factory, and the Bicycle Factory are examples of good intentions, but they failed somewhere in management of the design, operation and maintenance. All of this is not to discourage Hon. Mr. Figueira from being a politician, but to discourage him from writing stuff that my students wear me out correcting them. It is important, because there seems to be a strategy to counter otherwise irrefutable arithmetic with a sufficient number of people reciting the refuted assertions in the hope that those too busy to figure out the truth will be won over by the apparent democracy of the choice.
The national sense of conflict of interest fled when Mr. Burnham started appointing unqualified party members to the Public Service. Now only a few people like Simone Mangal-Joly dare expose it. Some people with PhDs ignore this illogic of self-reference and encourage the tyranny of incompetence in our politicians. So with this kind of political culture, I become alarmed at the prospect of such people managing ammonia and nitric acid for nitrogen fertilizers. It is not the dilute stuff we let students experiment with in school labs.
Sincerely,
Alfred Bhulai
