APNU pledges support for efficient hydropower development

Aug 25, 2013 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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A Partnership for National Unity – APNU – pledges its total support for the development of Guyana’s hydropower potential for the benefit of all our people.
APNU iterates its complete commitment to contributing to a real solution to Guyana’s short-, medium- and long-term energy requirements. The Partnership supports local and foreign direct investment in hydropower development and other natural resources. It will respect, unreservedly, the rights of investors in accordance with the Investment Act No 1 of 2004, which states, “The government shall protect investments and the prosperity of investors in accordance with the laws of Guyana.”
APNU asserts that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration must accept full responsibility for the current controversy and confusion surrounding its failure to win the wholehearted support of the nation to advance the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project – AFHP – beyond its present stalled stage. APNU blames the PPPC for poor consultation, poor planning, poor implementation and poor management of the arrangements for the AFHP over the past eight years, since negotiations started with Synergy Holdings Inc.
APNU has made several recommendations for the PPPC administration to develop Guyana’s abundant hydropower potential in an efficient manner. APNU is adamant that, in the final analysis, the Government of Guyana must give the public adequate assurances of the final tariff for electricity supplied to the average consumers, the final cost of the project, the design of the plant, and the capability of the Guyana Power and Light Inc. to deliver electricity to consumers.
APNU proposes, as a start to move the process forward, the establishment of a Potaro-Basin Development Authority – PBDA – of which the AFHP can be the first, but not the sole, component. APNU is aware that AFHP on its own is inadequate to meet Guyana’s medium- and long-term energy needs. APNU calls on the PPPC administration, therefore, to adopt a holistic scheme to place the development of the Potaro Basin on a sound basis.
APNU sees the proposed Authority as a specialised corporate organisation that is adequately equipped, resourced and staffed to enable it to plan and manage the development of a hydroelectric project. It calls on the government, therefore, to prevent further damage to the project by restricting the role of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) to the activities for which it was originally established.
APNU restates its concern that, up to the present, no comprehensive proposal on the AHFP has ever been presented for consideration, debate and approval of the National Assembly. APNU, therefore, did not support the  Hydro-Electric Power (Amendment) Bill 2013, No 15/2013 and the Limit on Amount Outstanding under Guarantees given under the Guarantee of Loans (Public Corporations and Companies) Act when they were brought before the National Assembly, at its 62nd Sitting on Wednesday 7th August. These measures are fragmentary and still do not present the project in a holistic manner. The Partnership, in those circumstances, found it impossible to give its unequivocal support for a project when only two peripheral matters had been presented for its deliberation.
APNU voted against the bill and the motion because it was not prepared to support a project the financial architecture of which was likely to condemn Guyanese to excessive indebtedness. The Partnership did not support the measures which failed to provide assurances that the final cost of power to the consumer will be appreciably lower than the current tariff. They were, nevertheless, approved by majority vote of the People’s Progressive Party Civic and the Alliance for Change.
APNU has had engagements with the Government of Guyana, the Inter-American Development Bank and representatives of the Blackstone and Sithe Global Groups on the proposed AFHP. APNU has also engaged citizens and stakeholders with respect to three areas – economic analysis, environmental security and the capability of Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) to deliver electricity from the AFHP.
APNU supports the continuation or resumption of engagements with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank (IBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for funding. It proposes, also, that transparent arrangements be initiated to raise capital from the domestic private sector and the diaspora through infrastructure bonds.
APNU calls on the government to publish immediately, all memoranda and agreements signed and licences awarded to individuals and entities in relation to hydroelectric development. It proposes, further, that a transparent and reasonable process be established for the award of licences for hydropower development. The licence for the AFHP must be re-awarded through an open process.
APNU strongly recommends the appointment of a GPL board of directors that will restore the confidence of the stakeholders and the public in that corporation. The new board should introduce a revised management structure intended to radically improve arrangements for reducing technical and commercial losses by 2015.  The PPPC administration and GPL must give an undertaking to reduce the tariff to domestic consumers and to industry, in keeping with the planned fall in costs of power generation.
APNU calls on the PPPC administration to present to the nation its proposals for the hydropower development of the Potaro Basin without further delay. APNU restates its concern about financial arrangements for the project and particularly the final tariff to average consumers, the final costs of the project and GPL’s ability to deliver affordable electricity to consumers.
APNU pledges to continue to work towards a project that will bring cheaper, more abundant hydroelectricity to the Guyanese people.

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