Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
Aug 12, 2013 News
– Granger won’t budge unless fully informed
By Abena Rockcliffe
President Donald Ramotar is still optimistic about the chances of saving the Amaila Falls Hydro Project. In a statement released yesterday, Ramotar disclosed that he still thinks the project can be saved and that he is engaged in talks with Opposition Leader David Granger to do so.
Granger subsequently confirmed with Kaieteur News that the President did contact him yesterday morning around 7:00hrs. Granger said that during the telephone conversation, he made it clear that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s position has not changed.
Even though it has been well publicized that Sithe Global—project investor and developer—has pulled out the deal, citing the absence of parliamentary consensus, the President is still to confirm.
He said in the statement yesterday that Sithe Global has an “intention” to withdraw from the project, because of a lack of political support from all parties in the National Assembly.
According to Ramotar, even at this late hour, there is a small window of time for “our country’s leaders to rise to the occasion and to make a decision on Amaila that is based on patriotism, not partisanship.”
The President disclosed that he spoke with Granger, and “urged him once again to join me in showing support for the Amaila Falls Project, for our country’s future development and for the life opportunities of generations of Guyanese.”
Ramotar said that he will “try” to continue this engagement with Granger in the hours ahead.
He noted that as President of Guyana, he intends to honour his duty to represent all Guyanese – and will keep working to find a way forward “as long as I believe that progress is still possible.”
On the other hand, Granger stressed last evening that the stance of APNU—not to support Amaila—remains, in light of the fact that no new information about the project has been made available to make that change.
The party leader said “we (the APNU) are sticking to our position; there had been no alteration.”
However, at a stage where Ramotar is depending on APNU to save the project, the President said that the debate about Amaila hasn’t helped by the volume of uninformed speculation that has been visible in recent weeks, despite two opportunities to debate the project in Parliament, and the public availability of information over many months.
He added that “decisions on matters such as this – which are so important to our country’s future – should be based on facts, and not made as a result of speculation or political partisanship. All our political parties know that they have been equipped with the information they need to reach a decision on Amaila Falls.”
The President in his statement said that the “facts are clear: today GPL incurs an electricity generating cost of US$19c per kw/h. With Amaila Falls Hydro, GPL’s cost of electricity can be dramatically reduced, to:11c per kw/h in the first twelve years, 40% less than today; 5.6c per kw/h in the next eight years, 71% less than today; 1.8 c per kw/h for the following eighty years, 91% less than today.”
However, analysts have computed that the situation would be quite the opposite
President Ramotar said that the Amaila Falls Hydro Scheme will also eliminate the need for Guyanese taxpayers to subsidise GPL. In 2012, the subsidy cost taxpayers over 6 billion dollars. He said that there will also be reduce black-outs.
What President Ramotar didn’t mention was that all Guyanese may not even enjoy the benefits stated above for the first 12 years since by the admission of the head of Amaila technical team, Winston Brassington, within a year after Amaila would have come on stream, other sources of electricity will have to be explored. This is because some four years after, electricity being generated from the plant will become insufficient to meet consumer demand.
Ramotar continued to sell the project in his statement saying that it will support business growth in the processing and manufacturing industries, and create new jobs. He said too that the US$858M project will be constructed without any debt being incurred by the citizens of Guyana. “The plant will be fully paid for by the sale of electricity–at prices far cheaper than today.”
According to Ramotar, it has been made clear over the last week that “one political party has not yet come out in support of our people gaining access to these benefits.”
“Yet in the coming hours and days, I hope that we will see a broadening spirit of patriotism and compassion for hardworking Guyanese. If we see this spirit of patriotism and compassion emerge, I will do my utmost as President to get this project back on track in the hours ahead,” noted the President.
Jan 17, 2025
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