APNU did the right thing by voting against the Amalia Hydro Bill

Aug 26, 2013 Letters

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Dear Editor,
We saw the Statement from His Excellency Donald Ramotar concerning the Amaila Falls Hydro Project and did not know whether to laugh or cry since his arguments for support of this now dead Brassington Deal is premised on two predicators:
1. “No debt” on the taxpayers (a big fat untruth – we will only be able to announce this after 20 years have elapsed); 2. “Consumer Tariff will reduce” (but he quite skillfully drifted away from this statement and replaced it with “the tariff paid by GPL to Sithe for electricity will reduce by 40 percent” – talking about chalk and cheese).
What we do know is that David Granger and APNU did the right thing by not voting for the Amalia Falls Hydro Bill in Parliament and the people are clearly on their side. In joining with the PPP to vote for the bill, the AFC not only did the wrong thing but it appears as though they did not have the people’s interest at heart.
If the AFC did, then why would its leaders allow Sithe Global Inc. to charge Guyanese 19% interest rate when commercial lending interest rates in Europe and North America are less than half of that amount?
All of Guyana wants hydro power but certainly NOT at this huge cost and with the financial architecture that these corrupt members of the PPP Cabal want to push down our esophagus with executive pleasure to fulfill their brand of “casino economics.”
It is clear that the creators of these contracts clearly are not prepared to level with the people on the contingent liabilities that are embedded in all the contract documents of the Amalia Falls Hydro project. It is both shameful and regrettable that the PPP cabal is safeguarding its own interest and those of the Americans.
Why do you think they went to the National Assembly requesting a “Motion to increase the Debt Ceiling for Public Corporations”?  If there are no contingent financial obligations payable by GPL, then why increase the Debt Ceiling?  Why not let GPL and Sithe Global consummate a private deal without an equity contribution from the State? The people are not buying into the propaganda what the PPP cabal is selling to them.
In the absence of the Engineering Drawings and the Bills of Quantities, there is grave uncertainty if the engineering estimate and designs are adequate to cover the soil conditions at the location. Have they done the soil test?  Have they established the bedrock conditions in the areas?  What happens if their engineering designs and estimates do not reconcile to what is on the ground?  Who will pay for the cost overruns?  The answer is Aunty Seema in Whim and Uncle Oscar in Buxton; not Donald Ramotar or Bharat Jagdeo – they do not pay taxes. They are getting a free ride on the backs of the taxpayers while the poor and the working class have to struggle with Guyana’s cumbersome tax structure, designed to give more exemptions to the rich and less to the poor.
The fact remains there is a contingent liability on the nation’s books and the people of Guyana will have to pay for this uncertainty.
The Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal does not have a good track record that provides them with a decent character that reveals that they know what they are doing on the big capital projects.  Everything they touched has resulted in a massive cost overrun and what prevents them from doing the same on the Amaila Project? Further, if the cabal has the people’s interest at heart, they would not have allowed Sithe Global Inc. to charge 19% interest rate on its loan of US$157 million to the Amalia project when the average commercial lending rate in North America and Europe is between 6% and 8%. And to allow one person, Winston Brassington to negotiate such a huge deal is both irresponsible and reckless on the part of the PPP cabal who does not care about the interests of the poor and the working class in Guyana.
A clear example is the Berbice Bridge.  This bridge was supposed to be the savior for the Berbicians; it is now the financial albatross around their necks because of the high toll and they used subterfuge and deception to sell this Project to the people by not telling them up front how much it would cost to cross this Bridge. Let it be known that the Berbice River Bridge is the ugliest with the most expensive toll in the world. It is Guyana’s most costly fiasco to date.
Then the Jagdeo White Elephant – the Skeldon Factory was sold as the solution to turning around Guysuco.  That factory is the source of why Guysuco today is turning on its head.  Clear examples of the PPP’s subterfuge, deception and untruths!  Why should the people believe these sycophants today who we believe have already benefited financially from Amaila?
After five years, the Skeldon Factory remains the most unreliable and inefficient sugar mill in Guyana, while the contract has been paid in full and the contractor is nowhere to be found to fix the problems. In fact, the PPP regime continues to spend the taxpayers’ money recklessly to repair a factory that the people at Skeldon described as a scrap metal factory. Again, who is paying these bills – not Ramotar and Jagdeo but Aunty Seema in Whim and Uncle Oscar in Buxton.
So rest yourself with all this subterfuge and deception Mr. President; the majority of the people are fully aware of your inconsistent and wild game of “casino economics and leadership” with the people’s money. They do not believe in your propaganda, distortions and untruths.
So we say yes to hydro power but not at any cost to the taxpayers or the huge kick-backs to some in the cabal.
Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh

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