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Greenidge refutes Jagdeo’s claims about cost of Mazaruni project
The withdrawal of Sithe Global, the major contributor to the controversial Amaila Hydro Project because of the lack of unanimous parliamentary support for it was met with strong criticism by former President Bharrat Jagdeo during the recent economic forum as he condemned A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) for not coming on board.
Jagdeo had argued that the previous People’s National Congress (PNC) administration had spent a whopping US$300M in the late 1970s and early 80s on the failed Upper Mazaruni Hydro Project but he has apparently earned the anger of Member of Parliament Carl Greenidge, the APNU’s point man on the economy, who says he fully disagrees with Jagdeo’s figures and assessment of the project.
Speaking to Kaieteur News over the weekend, former Finance Minister Greenidge said that the previous attempt to bring hydro power to Guyana from the Eclipse Falls in the Mazaruni could not have incurred costs of around $300M as Jagdeo has argued, as the total Gross Domestic Product at the time would not have been much more than that, given the size of the economy back then.
Greenidge put the GDP figure at G$1136.2 or a little over $400M at the time.
Comparing Amaila and Upper Mazaruni, Greenidge said that engineers were also forced to build access roads to the Falls in preparation for capital works but it had to be abandoned after neighboring Venezuela campaigned against it internationally, citing its longstanding claim to a large chunk of Guyana’s land space.
“The funding was not obtained largely because of the reticence of donors in reaction to Venezuela’s intervention in pursuit of its ridiculous claim to ⅔ of our land mass. The money spent on the project also included a comprehensive story of all the potential hydro sites in the country. Those studies included recommendations which the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government seems to be ignoring for political reasons,” Greenidge said.
APNU’s Finance point man Carl Greenidge
With such a huge figure, Greenidge noted that what the former president is saying in essence is that after the Mazaruni project, there was no money left to purchase anything else in the country.
Greenidge also pointed out that Eclipse Falls would have generated over 1,000 megawatts of power, much more than the country would have needed back then and if Jagdeo is of the view that money was wasted or ill spent back then, “that is precisely why we should avoid that error again. Mr. Jagdeo’s understanding of this aspect of economics leaves a lot to be desired in this case,” he contended. He continued that it is much cheaper to produce large amounts of energy; in relation to the Marzaruni project, it would have been for many years to come, Greenidge said.
“The attempt to belittle the critics of the Amaila Hydro project is pathetic. Professor Clive Thomas is a highly acclaimed economist widely respected internationally. The Government has itself retained Chris Ram and Ramon Gaskin to advise and undertake work for them until they voiced public criticism of Government policies.”
The former head of state had said that those against the transformational project used ‘charlatan economics’ and quoted figures by activists Christopher Ram, Ramon Gaskin and Professor Clive Thomas. Their analysis was claimed to be completely off the mark, and they were accused of ‘killing’ the hydro project.
To criticisms on the debt the nation would incur as a result of the Amaila Falls project, Jagdeo said that, “There is not a single cent of debt, outside of the money that we are spending on the road and the equity that we are taking that will accrue to this country…”
The former president said that the project’s funds were not easily available, and as such, the nation lost its opportunity.
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