Opposition axe falls on GPL, NCN and GINA estimates

Apr 19, 2013 News

By Abena Rockcliffe

Even after grilling the government on the nitty-gritty in relation to the affairs of numerous agencies, the opposition, not satisfied with the answers given, yesterday moved to slash estimates allocated to three state-owned agencies: GPL, NCN and GINA.
Just like last year, the allocations set aside in 2013 for the National Communications Network (NCN) -$81,337,000 and Government Information Agency (GINA) – $135,858,000, were reduced to $1 each. However, the capital funding remains as provided for by the government with NCN having $65M and GINA $13M.
Allocations set aside for Guyana Power and Light Inc.(GPL) have been cut almost directly in half, as the Minister of Finance had provided 10.2B and that was reduced by 5.2B, leaving a subvention of $5B for the company.
As a result, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds hinted that Guyanese should brace themselves for more blackouts. He stated that with the cut in effect, GPL would be having a hole of about 20 per cent in what it requires to sustain itself. Hinds explained that that will most likely result in reduced purchases of fuel and transformers.
The Prime Minister told the house that the cost at which electricity is provided in Guyana is mostly as a result of the “situation”, which he explained, is the cost of petroleum.
In an attempt to point out that Guyana’s situation, as it relates to electricity rates, isn’t unique, Hinds compared it to those of Caribbean islands. He said that most Guyanese may see it as an irregular comparison since the earnings of an average person in Guyana is not the same as those in countries like Barbados, but he told the House that “the fact is, when we go to buy things we pay the same price as anybody else”.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Shadow Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge, told the Prime Minister that his party wants to be assured that GPL is addressing the issue of tariff levels and that it is addressed seriously. He said that APNU would like to see a plan which seriously addresses the capacity of the company to deliver tariffs in line “with our capacity to pay.”
Alliance For Change (AFC) Vice- Chairman Moses Nagamootoo noted that even though his party was trying hard to understand the explanations given, they just weren’t clear enough, neither were they good enough.
Hence both opposition parties voted for the hefty reduction in allocations for GPL.
In the case of NCN and GINA, the opposition was adamant that the entities are not being administered professionally, especially as it relates to equal coverage for both the government and opposition.In addition, the absence of the investigative report on the financial irregularities of NCN played a major role in the decision to cut its subventions.
Greenidge said that the opposition had sought to engage the government in an exercise intended to extract, from the agency, a commitment to survey its work with a view to making it more professional and by way of an audit, look into its finances. However, according to Greenidge, those attempts were failed ones.
The Prime Minister sought to point out that just the night before Greenidge’s presentation was aired on NCN, which was an indication that progress is being made.
Alliance For Change MP Catherine Hughes told the house that since March 2012, the AFC wrote to NCN’s Chief Executive Officer with specific requests regarding the party’s right to reply to arguments put forward by the government that were aired on NCN, as well as equitable coverage.
She said that as recent as a month ago, the AFC wrote requesting availability of time and had indicated a willingness to pay. She said that up to last night, the party had still not received a response.
APNU member Basil Williams sought to support Hughes’s point and noted that “when the Honourable Attorney General chooses to go on NCN and rant and rave, we should get a chance to respond.”
As the grilling continued, AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan questioned NCN’s income and so did Hughes.
In response to both, Junior Finance Minister Juan Edghill informed the house that NCN made a total of $557M last year; stating that advertisements alone raked in some $288.9M
APNU’s Joseph Harmon then asked what became of the investigation and if any action is being or will be taken against those found to be involved in fraud, to which Edghill responded that a commitment was made that the report and a conclusion of its review will be released by the end of this month.

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Opposition axe falls on GPL, NCN and GINA estimates

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