Brazil to Guyana Fibre Optic Cable too expensive to fix –Alexei Ramotar

Jul 04, 2015 News

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– Govt. advised to cut losses – Official  

In providing the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon with an update on the controversial Brazil to Guyana Fibre Optic Cable project, Head of the E-Governance Project, Alexei Ramotar, said yesterday, that the damage to the cable was too grave and would now prove too costly for the new administration to rehabilitate.
During a meeting, yesterday at the project’s office, on Barrack and Duke Street, Kingston, Ramotar told Harmon that 40 percent of the cable has been damaged.
Ramotar explained that he informed Harmon that the cable is in such a bad state that even if Government does move forward with repairing the cable, it would not be able to recover the monies invested.
Another government official, Kaieteur News was told, suggested that Government cut its losses regarding the project, despite millions of taxpayers’ dollars already being expended on it.
Minister Harmon was given a tour of the office, and was updated on projects and operations. Also present at the meeting were Project Control Manager Rosco Greene and Government’s Advisor on E-Governance Mr. Floyd Levi, who will be working closely with Ramotar and the E-Governance project.
Only last week, the Minister of State told the media that Government has decided on its plans for the highly contentious cable project.
Harmon said that this is another project to come under the government’s radar considering that it is absorbing millions of taxpayers’ dollars.
“I did indicate to you the last time we met that I had a request from the gentlemen you spoke about, Fasil Mohamed, but I was not ready to meet with him because I need to get a better sense of where we are with the project and I am now able to do so. I have met with the persons in government who had anything to do with it and so I am in a better position to do so,” the Minister had stated.
The fibre optic cable project is part of an Information Communication Technology Initiative of the former PPP/C government to bring cheaper internet service to Guyana’s shores from the neighbouring Portuguese speaking territory.
But after some years, the cable project collapsed and under pressure from the media, the previous administration admitted that the cable was in a poor state.
While the E-Governance Head believes that the cable is now too expensive to repair, the former administration which his father led, awarded a handsome contract to a local firm to repair it.
Before the PPP/C lost the May 11, 2015 elections, former Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon had announced that Dax Contracting Services owned by Faisal Mohamed, was awarded a contract to rehabilitate the cable.
The agreement states that Dax will undertake to repair and maintain the fibre optic cable from Brazil. This contract is for an initial 25 years with an option to renew it for a further 15 years. This gives Dax a total of 40 years of cable rights.
The PPP/C administration also undertook to provide Mohamed with the necessary support to receive and transmit data by way of the cable after granting the company an operating licence.
And for free, Mohamed will be able to use the Government-owned fibre optic cables and structures including roads, the poles, access to repeater stations and other things.
Dax Contracting Services would also be provided with tax exemptions and incentives, including but not limited to tax holidays, remissions, tax waivers and duty free concessions on equipment, spares, tools and vehicles.
The then PPP government insisted that it would retain possession and use of most of the bandwidth.
As the owner of parts of the cable, the contract gave Mohamed the power to invite and sign with any company or entity to use them to transmit and receive data and information from any part of the world in the same way that today’s telephone companies operate.
To add insult to injury, the former government had agreed to pay Dax for specific emergency maintenance.
Harmon also spoke to the issue of Guyana already accumulating some US$76, 000 annually in debt for the internet connectivity which had stopped at the Brazilian borders even though Guyana is yet to utilize it.
The Minister of State said, “We are going to renegotiate all these things (debt). What I found is that in a number of the international agreements which we entered during the PPP era, the quality of the negotiations was very poor in some cases…So with respect to Brazil and the debt and that contract, we have to re-enter into conversations with the Brazilians and to see whether in fact we can get a better deal.”
Additionally, Dax Contracting Services proprietor had told Kaieteur News that he is eager to meet the new administration and speak with them on the works needed to be done on the Brazil to Guyana fibre optic cable. He sought to set the record straight that even though he was given what appeared to be a “sweetheart contract”, he has been unable to access the concessions.
Mohamed said, “It is tied up at the Finance Ministry.”
The Contractor said that as a result of this, he has been forced to dip into his own pockets to complete at least quarter of the works at a cost of millions of dollars.
He noted that thus far he has finished most of the works on the Linden Highway with some minor adjustments to be made.
“I am willing to negotiate with the new administration, the whole contract and everything, concessions included. I want us all to be happy,” Mohamed added.

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