$20.8B approved for Gas-to-Shore Project

Feb 08, 2022 News

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…as Prime Minister refuses to provide answers
“…this is the largest project in the history of this country and the people of this country deserve answers.” – PNC/R’s, Shurwayne Holder

Kaieteur News –
By Gary Eleazar

Yesterday, government using its one-seat majority in the Committee of Supply considering the $552.9B Estimates of Expenditure for this year, approved $20.8B allocated for the much vaunted Gas- to-Shore project but at the end of the process parliamentarians and Guyanese were left none the wiser on the project, its source of funding—whether the oil revenues were being used—or even its scope.
This, since Prime Minister, Mark Phillips was “woefully unprepared” for the line of questioning on what is Guyana’s single largest project in its history.
He has since, committed to laying over the requested information on the project to the House at some point in the future and additionally, bluntly refused to provide any answers on whether the project was being funded using the Natural Resources Fund.
Having told the House this is the year of the commencement of many mega projects in Guyana that fall under the Prime Minister, Shadow Minister with responsibility for the Oil and Gas Sector, the Alliance for Change’s David Patterson sought to illicit answers from the Prime Minister .
According to the Prime Minister, the $20.8B was for phase one of the gas-fired electricity plant to be constructed at Wales.
FUTURE
Asking for the spending of the $20.8B to be disaggregated, such as what amounts would be used for land clearance and such like, Patterson was told bluntly, the disaggregation will be submitted to the House in future.
As such, Patterson queried whether the Prime Minister is “saying to this assembly the $20.8B, the single largest in his portfolio, that he has no information to provide to this assembly” and was told that “there is a provision for the laying over of information and what I am saying is that will be done.”
To this end, he said it is clear that the Prime Minister is “woefully unprepared” for the questions.
Coalition Member of Parliament, Annette Ferguson in her line of questioning for the Prime Minister acknowledged a slew of projects under the particular head—power generation—as such, she sought to find out which of the projects will be funded by the Natural Resource Fund.
According to Phillips, however, “that is not a question for the Prime Minister.”
It was at this point that Patterson reminded that during the course of the debate last week, a number of government speakers had said that during the Committee of Supply stage, the budgetary approval process, the opposition would be able to ascertain which particular projects are funded through the NRF.
OIL MONEY
To this end, he repeated the question, but on behalf of the populace, whether the gas-to-shore project was being funded from the NRF.
According to Prime Minister Phillips, “I already answered that any question pertaining to the NRF, I as Prime Minister, am not prepared to answer those questions” to which Patterson responded “I do hope the Guyanese people are listening.”
Reminding that it has been stated that additional studies on the gas-to-power project have to be executed, Patterson sought to query whether these studies have been completed or whether they would be dealt with using the $20.8B.
According to the Prime Minister, however, “in the interest of being accurate, I ask that the honourable member pose the question in writing.”
Ferguson as such quipped, “I must say how surprised I am with the responses being provide by the Prime Minister of this nation” and asked whether he believed he was in contravention of the NRF Act by not providing the National Assembly with the required “information we are seeking.”
According to Patterson, “it is obvious that the Prime Minister, aka superman, can’t fly here today” even as he sought to query what method of procurement will be used and what execution timelines are there for the $20.8B expenditure this year.
Again, the Prime Minister refused to provide a direct answer telling the Members of Parliament instead, “at the opportune time, the House will be informed, this is not the time.”
Patterson used the occasion to again point out that while the Prime Minister was in the House defending the $20.8B allocation, the money will be approved and the nation is none the wiser as to even the execution timelines.
AMAILA ABSENT
Having referenced the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project for which monies have been allocated to hire consultants, Prime Minister Phillips was asked to point to the allocations being made for that project since it could not be found by perusing the document.
Despite having his technical officers present to provide information, it was the Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, who whispered the answer to the Prime Minister that it is a Build Own Operate Transfer Project (BOOT) and as such, the capital works would not be included in the Budget.
Recently elected Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform, Shurwayne Holder, at this point dismissed Prime Minister Phillips’ answers to the House as unacceptable, adding that “this is the largest project in the history of this country and the people of this country deserve answers.”
When asked how the administration arrived at a total project cost of $104B for the gas-to-shore power plant, the Prime Minister again committed to providing those answers at a later date but with expediency.
During the Prime Minister’s defense of the allocations for his Ministry, another bone of contention was a $5B allocation, listed under the line item “other’ and for which there was no clear outline of the objective. To this end, he told the House the government is “still to decide on what specifically this money will be used on.”
According to Prime Minister Phillips, however, there is no need for concern, and drew reference to the initial Budget presentation where Dr. Singh mentioned that there is requirement for other cost of living measures to be provided.
He told the House, the $5B being questioned is money there for ministerial intervention to help the most vulnerable in our society.
The Prime Minister qualified the opaqueness of its representation by pointing to the fact that the specific intervention measures to be had would be decided on through further consultations and as such refused to lay over any information to the MPs with regard that allocation.
AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan contended that such interventions should have been met out of the contingency, provided for under the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act.
Emphasising that money was being allocated for which nothing has been identified, he questioned rhetorically why not $25B, and condemned the allocation by saying “this is wrong.”
The observation was complemented with a heckle from Opposition MP, Ganesh Mahipaul, who from the opposition benches said “you pilfering from the taxpayers.”
By the end of the process, each allocation was approved but Guyanese are still to hear whether the gas-to-shore project is in fact being funded in part using the oil revenues.

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