Lest we forget the Development Sabotage

Sep 27, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
It seems like many moons ago that Guyana had its first minority government, as such is the intensity of living in Guyana over the past two and a half years. Indeed, the almost daily eruption and unearthing of a new scandal, scheme, corrupt practice or policy to unleash untold suffering upon the populace, makes the very daily existence in Guyana, an unprecedented challenge and a more than a mouthful to swallow. It is why I find it necessary to pen this letter to remind Guyanese of an administration which, when in opposition, bullied its way against a Ramotar-led PPP administration, and, continues to bully the people of Guyana, every step of the way.
The current administration enjoys catapulting itself onto a pedestal and casting judgement on the PPP government with the especial insinuation that the development agenda being pursued by the party, under the framework of the Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) was somehow subpar. Mr. Editor, even an ex-facie examination of the LCDS would reveal its superiority to the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS); a document which is supposed to be the development plan of Guyana until 2030 which contains glorified narrative and no underpinning mechanism of economic or social transformation.
Mr. Editor, surely if a thorough expedition is to be made into the immensity of the hypocrisy surrounding this administration, it would have to feature in several series. However, a venture into only one area of the development sabotage would suffice to proxy – the sabotage by the APNU-AFC of the Amaila Hydropower Project and the electricity sector as a whole. In this very year, 2017, in a counterfactual state of Guyana, its people would have begun enjoying electricity at about 50-60 percent of the current cost. Instead, Mr. Editor, the Guyanese people are inundated with blackouts to a magnitude certainly never experienced in the past 15 years.
It is indeed true that energy is one of the most important sources of economic transformation in any developing country – Guyana is no different. Any attempt to stymie any project which aids in the improvement of the energy sector, must be seen as a position which is diametrically opposing to progress and antithetical to development. Unfortunately for the people of Guyana, this antithetical position was recurrent in the Tenth Parliament of Guyana, propagated by the one-seat majority APNU-AFC opposition.
Mr. Editor, three actions, which should not be seen as mutually exclusive, must be examined to understand how the APNU-AFC has single-handedly underdeveloped the energy sector and inhibited improved efficiency. These are: i. the anti-Amaila Falls Hydropower Projects stance; ii. the inciting of protests in Linden on the regularizing of the electricity rates and; iii. the inability to conceive a viable replacement on the same scale as the Amaila Falls Project. I will briefly examine each.
The anti-Amaila Falls Project stance could probably be remembered as the greatest sabotage on Guyana’s development in the post-structural adjustment period. No less a man than then Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh explained ad-nauseum in Parliament, at presentations, in Budget Debates and at all possible forums, the innumerable benefits of the Amaila Falls Project which would translate into economic growth and by extension social improvements. Mr. Editor, this Project was internationally lauded by development experts, engineering specialists, international agencies and local experts. The APNU-AFC, at every opportunity that President Ramotar presented, avoided any discussion, moreover to render constructive criticism of the Project.
I cannot overemphasize the economic benefits which would have accrued from cheaper electricity but improved private sector competitiveness in international markets; greater disposable income for consumers and; the ability to attract more foreign investors to our shores were among some of the most immediate. Despite pleas by President Ramotar and other senior PPP members, the APNU-AFC remained steadfast in their anti-development position.
The inciting of violence in Linden when the regularization of electricity rates was initiated in the Budget Speech, represents another sore point in recent Guyanese history. The APNU-AFC persistently blames subsidies given to GUYSUCO, to keep the sugar industry afloat, for all its woeful inadequacies. However, the economic benefits of sugar as an industry far outweigh the nearly non-existent economic benefits to be derived from providing a single area in an entire region with electricity subsidies to the tune of 3-4B per annum. Regularising the electricity rates in Guyana would have represented the first step to ensuring that GPL, which suffers from inherent inefficiency due to line losses, moved one-step closer to second-best efficiency. This however Mr. Editor was not to be.
Perhaps the greatest injustice stricken onto the Guyanese people after the great sabotage is the woeful intellectual infertility by the APNU-AFC to conjure a viable alternative to the Amaila Falls Project which would provide the same magnitude of power. In a form not atypical to this administration, lofty narratives have flooded the headlines of state media and media houses sympathetic to the APNU-AFC without any substance. The Windfarm Project which at its peak is supposed to generate 30 percent of the power of the Amaila Falls Project, is strife with corruption from the very outset. Moreover, we are almost at the end of 2017 and halfway through this administration’s term in office and no substantive progress has been made on this project.
Mr. Editor, I would offer to close by reminding the Guyanese public that even through the trying time of development sabotage, the Ramotar-led PPP administration grew the economy by 13.8 percent over a 3-year period – sublime economic growth by any measure. With Parliamentary majority and not facing the same deadlock and anti-development agenda of a one-seat majority opposition, this Granger-led APNU-AFC is only able to muster 8.5 percent over a 2.5-year period and an expected 9.5 percent over a 3-year period. This figure is only buoyed by stronger-than-expected gold performances by two large companies, by the Minister of Finance’s own admission.
In the absence of such strong performances, the economic growth over the 3-year period would have been a lackluster 6 percent approximated. It is a small wonder therefore why the Guyanese populace complain of trying economic times and a visionless government. Mr. Editor, almost a decade later and we are still no closer to any form of alternative energy and face blackouts as a part of our daily lives. Why? Lest we forget the development sabotage.   Yours sincerely,
Nand Puran

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