Gas to energy, show us something, please

Feb 12, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Anything would help, any set of documents that supports the Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project, that sheds some light, would be welcomed. This is so that Guyanese could have some understanding of what they are getting into, what they could end up getting. Currently, Guyanese know little, other than what Vice President Bharat Jagdeo feels fit to share. Whatever is in his head with this US$2B project remains tightly locked there, and leaves citizens guessing, and hoping that some information of substance would come their way. It should never be this way: this is not transparency; it is not accountability when almost $68B has been budgeted. Guyanese need to know as much as they can, so they can decide for themselves that this GTE has benefits for them.

Now, we are glad that a Guyanese has taken matters to the highest local forum. Opposition MP, Ganesh Mahipaul has submitted a Motion in parliament that reads as follows: “BE IT RESOLVED, that this National Assembly instructs the Minister of Natural Resources to forthwith lay over to the National Assembly all documents relating to the construction of the Wales Gas-to-Energy Project and the Heads of Agreement signed on June 30, 2022.” It is a tall order, a big demand, couched in customary parliamentary language. Because MP Mahipaul’s Motion is not for some documents, or whatever the PPPC Government feels is safe to release, but all the documents that are a part of GTE project.

Though this may make the PPPC Government and its public faces uncomfortable, the secrecies that have plagued the expensive GTE project are simply too inconceivable to be allowed free passage, as they have been from the inception of this project at Wales. President Ali has said, time and again, that he is about transparency and accountability. Talk is cheap and comes effortlessly; the proof is in the delivery, the living of the words. We have not seen, do not believe, that His Excellency has lived up to the commitments that he has made over transparency and accountability. There is a tremendous amount of room for transparency and accountability in anything that has a price of US$2B, and we are sure that Guyana’s Head-of-State knows that as well, if not better than anyone else. Some time or the other, President Ali is going to have to show his whole hand about transparency in substance (and not just talk), and in those realities that brook no disagreement. He cannot claim confidentiality, not when US$2B is the present price for the Wales GTE, and already $67.8B has been budgeted for 2022 and this year.

The official currently standing in the role of sole decision maker relative to this Opposition Motion is Guyana’s Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Manzoor Nadir. He has to make the call that can only go one of a couple of ways. Suppress the Motion in its entirety, and be done with what the PPPC Government likely considers to a hindrance, and a nuisance. Or allow the full force of the motion to reach the length and breadth of parliament, with the objective of Guyanese being privy to what has gone into this project, how much the Guyana Government has committed them to, and whether all that has been said by Vice President Jagdeo (and others) adds up, can be endorsed.

We at this publication have made clear where we stand with the GTE project. Like other Guyanese, we want cheaper electricity, and a dependable supply of it. If the documents for this GTE project can confirm that what has been said, touted, and sold to Guyanese are all on solid grounds, then we would add our voice and weight to endorsing the project. We cannot endorse something that has been based on air so far, on what one man (the VP) has said without providing any backup, and certainly not for a project of this magnitude, for this amount of money, for what has so many implications. It is imperative that we get something of significance for US$2B, and not yet another white elephant. We urge the Speaker to allow the motion. Let us see what the PPPC Government would do then about all the Wales GTE documents requested/demanded.

Editorial, Ganesh Mahipaul, Mr. Manzoor Nadir, PPPC Government, Vice President Bharat Jagdeo, Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE)

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