-$25.3b in supplementary spending approved
Prime Minister Mark Phillips yesterday reported that 58% of the Gas to Power Project has been completed.
Speaking during the 89th sitting of Parliament, the Prime Minister also addressed concerns raised by APNU+AFC MP David Patterson about the project’s financials and progress.
During the sitting, the members of the National Assembly approved $25.3 billion as part of supplemental provisions in Financial Paper No. 4 to facilitate accelerated payments for the project. This new sum will be allocated to cover additional resources necessary for the project’s execution, though it does not include costs related to ongoing arbitration.
Phillips noted that the previous allocation for the project stood at $80 billion through the Office of the Prime Minister, which was voted on earlier in the year. The newly requested $25.3 billion is designed to ensure payments for various components of the project, including the construction of power plants, transmission lines, and substations.
Responding to questions from Patterson, Phillips provided a breakdown of how the $25.3 billion will be distributed. The key components include:
● Natural Gas Power Plant and Liquid Plant: $23.8 billion
● Project Management Consultancy: $149 million
● Transformers: $26.8 million
● Transmission Lines and Substations: $890 million
● Supervision of Transformers, Transmission Lines, and Substation
Control Centres: $103 million
● SCADA GMS, EMS, OPS and Remote Terminal Units Integration and
Commissioning: $156 million
● Consultancy for Control Centre Building Construction: $4.1 million
● Training and Land Acquisition: $22.8 million
● Access Roads and Pipe-line Relocation: $133 million
Patterson also inquired about the project’s contractor, Lindsayca CH4, and the status of the payments made to the company. The Prime Minister confirmed that in January 2024, $55.4 billion was approved, which represented 35% of the total contract value at the time. However, Patterson raised concerns regarding the progress of the work, questioning whether the contractor had met the expected 35% completion rate by now and if the new payment allocation would bring the total funding closer to 50% of the total contract sum.
In response, Phillips clarified that the contract for the Gas to Power Project, valued at $159.9 billion, commenced in 2022. To date, the government has spent $44.6 billion, with $59.5 billion remaining. The Prime Minister emphasized that the expected expenditure for the remaining work would total $23.8 billion, signalling that 58% of the work had been completed so far.
The opposition also raised questions about the arbitration between the Government of Guyana and Lindsayca CH4 related to the project. Patterson specifically asked whether any of the funds were allocated to settle arbitration disputes. Phillips confirmed that the $25.3 billion request does not include any money for arbitration, which has so far cost the government $13.6 million in legal and consulting fees. The Prime Minister also reaffirmed that the dispute concerns consultants and legal teams involved in the matter.
In an exchange that resulted in heckling in the House, Patterson reminded the Prime Minister of a previous commitment made in January 2024 to lay over all relevant documentation related to the project. Despite the promise, Phillips has not yet fulfilled this request. The Prime Minister responded that if he had failed to deliver on this, he would work to honour the request moving forward. However, the opposition side of the House voiced frustration, with some members pointing out that this was the third time the Prime Minister had made such a commitment.
This gas to energy project is the most expensive public sector project in the country’s history and it has endured delays and other issues.