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Government to procure 25,000 solar panels for hinterland communities

Aug 22, 2020 News

In its pursuit of transitioning to renewable energy, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration has engaged the Government of India in procuring some 25,000 solar panels that will see the electrification of hinterland communities across the country.
This announcement was made by the Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill in a press briefing on Wednesday. The Minister noted that hinterland electrification has always been a top priority for the PPP/C both prior to 2015 and now even more under the President Irfaan Ali administration.
“The Government of Guyana continues to pursue renewable energy initiatives, and one of the programmes that was in the Ministry and not really moving in a manner that we would have expected because we would have complained about the incompetence and mismanagement and maladministration that occurred,” the Minister said.
The Minister explained that President Ali has since engaged the Indian High Commissioner in formulating a programme that will see household in the hinterland communities as well as the riverine communities benefiting from solar energy. According to the Minister, the units being procured will feature an upgrade from the regular 60-watt units to that of 100 watts.
The Minister further noted that the project will be accelerated based on discussions and decisions made by President Ali and the Indian High Commissioner. In addition to this, Edghill noted that both himself and Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar have been fervently working to ensure the continuation of the project.
During the briefing, Minister Edghill expressed his dissatisfaction in the lack of proper management of the Hinterland Electrification Programme by the previous administration.
“When we arrived at the Public Works Ministry, the seven areas that are to be served by generated power in the Hinterland Electricity Programme, those generators have not been adequately maintained and serviced and there was an immediate request for $281M, almost $282M to carry out much needed repairs to these generators,” the Minister stated.

“There was a lack of maintenance and as a result electricity at Matthew’s Ridge was down for several months. Last night, I checked personally with residents of Matthew’s Ridge who have reported receiving power because the generators are up and running because of interventions that were made,” Edghill noted.
Further to this, Minister Edghill explained that the lack of proper maintenance can result in places such as Mahdia , Port Kaituma and Mabaruma experiencing difficulties with their generator sets.
“This is something,” he noted, “that the Ministry will have to pursue, almost immediately, but like I said, the day that we arrived, there was the request for $281M to carry out this particular operation.”
The Hinterland Electrification Project, which was launched in 2011 by the PPP/C administration, was aimed at expanding access to clean and affordable energy throughout Indigenous communities in the hinterland and was a component of the Low Carbon Development Strategy. The project is expected to play a major role in achieving the country’s goals for sustainable development.

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