Oil & Gas
Opposition adamant that Exxon made audit disclosure: Opposition members present during the September meeting with ExxonMobil insist that the company did say government agreed to the cost reduction from US$214 million to US$3 million and are of the view that the United States oil major should make its position public. However, to date the company has remained mum on the meeting and what transpired. Stabroek News reached out to ExxonMobil for comment but up to press time there had been no response. “In the said meeting ExxonMobil said that they agreed with the government to US$3 million because it was too time consuming to continue to go through all the information and reduce it further. He went on to state that they have all the information on their expenditure,” a letter to the editor signed by the five members of Parliament who were present, stated. The five are: Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton, AFC MP David Patterson, AFC MP Ricky Ramsaroop, and PNC MPs Shurwayne Holder and Elson Lowe. “We the undersigned wish to state that what we highlighted is what was conveyed to us in the meeting, and it is now opportune for Exxon to honour its comment that it operates based on integrity, transparency and accountability and state publicly what it told the Opposition delegation it met,” the letter added. The Opposition MPs said that in a meeting held on September 8, “ExxonMobil Guyana Ltd, through its Country Manager, Mr. Alistair Routledge stated that Exxon will not neglect its responsibilities in the event of an oil spill and that his company has always operated with integrity, transparency, and accountability.” It is in the same meeting that the audit was raised and the group said that Routledge gave the answers they attributed to him.
First phase of gas to energy project should be completed mid next year: President Irfaan Ali last Friday visited the site of the Gas to Energy project at Wales on the West Bank of Demerara and as sand was being stockpiled to consolidate the ground for pile driving, he was told that the first phase of the project should be completed by mid-next year. “We are already engaging in stockpiling … sand,” one of the project Managers told Ali yesterday as he pointed to areas that were being filled. “This area here, the soil needs to be further consolidated so that the construction can be robustly built on top of it. It would require stacking sand, a couple of meters…not in all the areas but most of them… and then piles will be driven,” he added. The project phase manager explained that every day some 500 cubic tonnes of sand is brought to the facility by barge and it is then taken to the worksite by trucks where it is used to consolidate the ground to then build the foundation. He said that after that aspect of the project is completed “Depends on how the soil react they have a good approximation but it is actually contingent on the actual conditions of the soil below. This first phase will be the first half of the year then they’re further stages…the piling, then the building themselves…,” he explained. The project currently employs about 500 persons and Ali urged contractors to maximize working during the current dry season. “You have to push a little more during this dry season because the weather is cooperating fully now,” Ali said. The Gas-to-Energy project will establish infrastructure so that natural gas can be transported from the Stabroek Block’s Liza oilfield to an integrated gas processing facility at Wales, West Bank Demerara. The project will deliver natural gas liquids (NGL) and dry gas to the Government of Guyana. A subsea pipeline is expected to be installed on the seafloor to transport natural gas from the Liza field to an onshore pipeline on the West Coast of the Demerara River. Onshore, a pipeline will deliver the gas to an integrated facility in Wales. At this facility, a NGL processing plant will treat the gas to extract NGLs for commercial use, and a 300-megawatt (MW) power plant will use the dry gas to generate electricity for domestic use. It is expected that the cost of electricity for consumers will be reduced by some 50 per cent. Currently, the power utility, Guyana Power and Light (GPL), provides electricity at a rate of 15 US cents per kilowatt hour. This is a joint project between the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil at a projected cost of US$1.7 billion.
Infrastructure
Providence road restoration moving apace – Edghill: The Ministry of Public Works has been working around the clock to reconstruct the section of Red Road, Providence, East Bank Demerara, that was severely damaged on Thursday as a result of the pressure from a stockpile of 30,000 tonnes of aggregate in the parking lot of the National Stadium. Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill told reporters yesterday that works to repair the road commenced on Thursday evening. Machines also began removing the aggregate from the stockpile area so as to distribute the weight. EC Veira, AJM Enter-prises, XL Engineering, and GuyAmerica Con-struction Inc, are among contractors who responded on Thursday evening with machines to execute some of the work. XL Engineer-ing and GuyAmerica Construction Inc were mobilised to reconstruct the damaged road. Orders were arranged for contractors actively engaged in government contracts who are in urgent need of crusher run and as a result 9,000 tonnes were removed last week. The ministry’s auditors are on site with a scale for the documentation process. As a result of the significant bulge that was created on Thursday, a water main belonging to the Guyana Water Inc. was damaged. However, it was quickly repaired so as to minimise the disruption of water supply to customers. There are however, some additional challenges. There are fibre optic cables planted along the walkway adjacent to the road under repair resulting in the tempo of the work slowing somewhat as GTT relocates them to avoid service disruption. On Thursday night, Guyana Power and Light (GPL) removed its poles from along the walkway and repositioned them closer to the fence. Further, workers have to contend with commuters using the walkway while heavy-duty machines are in operation, posing a safety hazard. Edghill noted that the police had requested permission from the Princess Hotel on Thursday to allow commuters to use their side entrance, however that operation was discontinued. The ministry later announced that a pedestrian walkway had been created within the stockpile compound at Red Road for the safe movement of persons in that area. Following his visit to the work site yesterday, Edghill directed his team to create the pathway. The minister said safety is key and everything will be done to ensure persons using the area can do so safely.
Education
CEO issues 12-point memo to deal with classroom heat: Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain has issued a 12-point memorandum to deal with the heat in classrooms that teachers have been complaining about. Dated October 12th, the memorandum was posted October 13th on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Education. Addressed to head teachers and regional education officers, the memo said that schools and classrooms must be managed with sufficient flexibility to enable comfortable and safe learning. “This means that long established rules, customs, traditions, habits and practices need to be reviewed and adjusted”, he said. Entitled `Hot Climatic Conditions’, Hussain said that teachers should avoid relying on only a fan when the indoor temperature is “extremely high”. He added that if they so choose, teachers should be allowed to conduct classes outside of the building and/or outside of the classroom if such space is cooler than inside. Rules on uniforms can be relaxed at the discretion of the school to ensure learners are more comfortable. Teachers are also encouraged to dress in attire that will help them to cope with the high temperatures. Hussain said that schools can also give learners additional short breaks during instructional periods and learners should be encouraged to consume plenty of fluids even if not thirsty. Parents must also ensure that learners take one or more bottles of water/fluid to school. Leaners, the CEO, said should also be advised to stay out of the sun and given increased access to the coolest areas of the school buildings and grounds. They should also be encouraged to wear a cap or hat while outside. Teachers were also advised to familiarize themselves with signs of heat illnesses which include headache, dizziness and confusion, excessive sweating and cramps. Collective actions were also advised to be taken by schools to ensure that outdoor activities are modified to increase rest periods or postponed during extreme heat. In a meeting on October 2nd at State House with President Irfaan Ali, several teachers had raised the issue of unbearable heat in the classrooms and called for solutions.
Electricity
Gov’t to soon seek Requests for Proposal for Amaila Falls Hydropower Project: Believing that the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) is still viable and having received expressions of interest from foreign investors, the government will soon seek Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the project that was halted more than a decade ago. “We are hoping, maximum within two weeks, to go out back for the request for proposal. Up to last week we had another interest from a Brazilian company. We have had a company from Austria, we had several from Korea… So now I think there is a large number of people approaching us and the best way to do this is through a public process – a request for proposal; a bid process,” Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced recently. “What they have to do is update the data from the last request for proposals and there are some elements like the change in demand and all of that. But we had most of the documents from the past already,” he added. Months after the PPP/C took office in 2020, Jagdeo had opined, “Amaila still remains the best option for meeting base load renewable energy for Guyana. That is the only way you can decarbonise, so the only way to achieve renewable energy is through the construction of the hydropower.” He was making reference to a Norway study done during the David Granger-led administration. Last May, Jagdeo had told a press conference that Chinese investor, China Railway Group Limited (CRGL), was unable to finance the construction of the roughly US$1billion project, and had written to the government requesting that it consider a different model of financing. He said that would have required re-tendering for the controversy-riddled project. He had said that they were “having a hard time doing the BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) contract and they want to shift to an EPC [Engineering, Procurement and Construction] plus financing, where the government finances the project and they will be the contractors.” According to Jagdeo, that suggested method of financing was not at the time possible, since those were not the terms under which the company bid for the project.
Accountability
President raps Ramotar over oil contract statement: President Irfaan Ali on recently took a swipe at former president, Donald Ramotar who was reported to have said recently that he supported a renegotiating of Guyana’s much criticised Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil. The President was speaking at a Canada – Guyana Chamber of Commerce ceremony at the Marriott Hotel. Ramotar had made the statement on a Globespan programme and was reported in the Kaieteur News on October 6th as saying that he would have renegotiated the contract with ExxonMobil. The newspaper quoted the former head of state as saying, “I am one of the persons who believes that the contract is a very bad contract…that deprives us of a lot of resources.” This did not sit well with Ali who although he opted to not name Ramotar in his speech on Friday evening was clearly referring to him. “You know everybody’s a specialist, whether you’re a former president or president, you’re whoever engineer, you’re the owner of Beharry group, everybody specialized now… I don’t spend my time on negative energy but it’s tiring to listen to some of these guys. You want us to change the contract, we have an existing contract, you think that is how it happens, that is how the world operates… That you can just walk in one day and decide I have this contract with you I’m changing it now, one lawsuit, this is not a plaything, and some of these guys were policymakers”, the President said. Ali continued “So believe that you know it’s fanciful, it’s nice and exciting and very popular to say to change the contract that is why we’re very careful to say that we have to learn from the mistake and ensure that future contract does not make the same mistake.” He said that given Guyana’s trajectory currently, investors and others are looking keenly at Guyana’s system. “How will you build confidence in the system when you have the sophisticated investors looking on from the outside and say ‘who are these guys? You can’t depend on them”, he said.
Tepui Group bid should have been thrown out – Goolsarran: The contentious $865 million Belle Vue, West Bank Demerara, Pump Station contract award to Tepui Group was flawed, as not only should the company have been disqualified for not meeting the bidding criteria but the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) erred when it lumped two other contracts to the award, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran says. He explained that from his analysis, “there has been a violation of the Procurement Act as regards the award of the contract for the construction of sluice/pump station at Belle View as well as the other two pump stations at Meten-Meer-Zorg and Jimbo. As regards the Belle Vue pump station, the system appeared to have been manipulated to facilitate the award of the contract to Tepui Group Inc,” Goolsarran told the Sunday Stabroek. According to the bidding documents for the project which were opened on June 27 this year, and seen by the Sunday Stabroek, the project was for a pump station at Belle Vue on the West Bank of Demerara. The engineer’s estimate was also for that project alone, so NPTAB still has to explain how three awards were handed out from among the same bidders when it was not a project divided into lots. Bidders had been asked to “Submit one (1) original (in paper) and 2 electronic copies (flash drive only) with an exact PDF version of the paper tender. (It is the responsibility of the bidder to ensure that the PDF file is accessible and readable.) Ensure the envelopes of the original (in paper) and the 2 electronic copies are identically labelled. The 2 electronic copies (flash drive) should be placed in a smaller envelope and properly affixed to the original paper submission.” The bids were to be opened in the presence of those bidders or their representatives who chose to attend an opening planned for Tuesday at 09:00. hours on June 13, in the NPTAB boardroom. However, the board’s records show the bids were opened on June 27.
Work on Leguan Stelling stalled over funds impasse between govt and contractor: Work on the Leguan Stelling has stalled in the face of an impasse over funds between the contractor S Maraj Contracting Services and the government. Sattrohan Maraj of S Maraj Contracting Services said in response to a question from this newspaper that the project was 98% completed, with only work on a link span to be finalised. However, that was stalled over payment for work already done – a sum of some $50 million – and also money outstanding to complete the stelling. Maraj said that through his communication with the Ministry of Public Works, he understood that the minister might need to go to cabinet for money. “I don’t know how long that will take but until they pay us for works complete we can’t move forward because remember I explained earlier that there were other things that wasn’t catered for.” Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill along with Sattrohan Maraj, head of S. Maraj Contracting Services meet during a visit to the stelling. Contacted, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill told this newspaper, “I have no comment on the Leguan Stelling against what I have said before. The contractor has an obligation to complete the work at the agreed prices, period. I have no further comment. [That’s] my position and that’s government position.” Maraj had stated that work would only recommence when the money was paid. He added that what was left of the project could be completed in two weeks.
In the courts
Goolsarran sues Jagdeo for $30m over `slanderous’ statements: Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, is suing Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo for in excess of $30,000,000 for allegedly slanderous statements he said Jagdeo made against him at a press conference and a public rally back in March of this year. Though having filed his statement of claim with the court on September 22nd, Goolsarran said his various attempts to serve papers on Jagdeo have been fruitless. He said that accompanied by a Marshal, he has visited Jagdeo’s residence, his Robb Street Freedom House office and the Office of the President on seven occasions, all to no avail. Goolsarran (the Claimant) said that at the two offices, they are always being told that Jagdeo is not there. He said that at the final visit to the Office of the President on September 29th, the guard contacted Jagdeo’s Secretary, who then enquired whether the visit had anything to do with the action filed by Goolsarran. Goolsarran said the Marshal informed the Secretary that she “was not in a position to discuss it on the phone.” The next response the Marshal got he said, was that Jagdeo was not there. Meanwhile, during the visit to Jagdeo’s Goedver-wagting, East Coast Deme-rara residence, Goolsarran said they were informed that “he was sleeping and could not be disturbed.” In his multimillion-dollar suit, Goolsarran said that the statements made by Jagdeo have besmirch-ed his character as they make certain false allegations against him when he served as Auditor General. He said that they hit at the very core of his integrity and standing both in local and international circles where he is well-known and respected. Against this background, he is asking the Court to grant a permanent injunction restraining Jagdeo (the Defendant) from repeating the slander he alleges, or from causing it to be printed or published. Goolsarran said that following the utterance of the defamatory statements, he had his attorney write Jagdeo, specifically pointing out the defamation; requesting they be withdrawn and an apology made. He said that through his lawyer, Jagdeo responded by letter refusing to withdraw or apologize, contending that “the statements represented fair comment and matters of public interest.” Goolsarran said that the Vice President then went on to make further defamatory and untrue statements about him in that said response.
