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Jagdeo confident US bank will approve loan for Wales gas project
Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is confident that government’s loan application to the United States Export Import (US-EXIM) Bank will be approved for the Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo
At a news conference hosted at Freedom House, Georgetown last week Jagdeo said that while efforts are being made by Guyanese to halt funding for the initiative, he is certain the bank would not be influenced by the “naysayers”. “We have had some really great engagements with the EXIM-Bank at the most senior level, the President of the Bank and the process is going forward smoothly. They know about the naysayers here, they have seen them, they have heard them many times before. In fact, they tell us a bit about the naysayers, they know people who are serious and who are not,” Jagdeo said.
As such, he noted “I don’t believe these fringe elements and especially now that they may have other interests…they may even pay even scantier attention to it.”
The VP explained that he recently met with a senior State Department official responsible for Energy during a visit to Guyana where extensive discussions were held. “They have given us the full assurances they are working on this project. The United States government is fully supportive of this project, US company is implementing the project and we believe that’s moving smoothly,” he reported.
To this end, Jagdeo explained that the project will be completed on the stipulated timeline, set for December 2024. Attorney-at-law and civil society activist, Elizabeth Deane-Hughes in a letter dated April 22, 2023 to the US-EXIM Bank flagged seven discrepancies in the Wales Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project, requesting that the loan being sought by the government to fund the initiative be blocked.
Her points were raised with the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the institution, , Reta Jo Lewis. According to the missive seen by this newspaper, that was also brought to the attention of US Ambassador, Sarah Ann-Lynch, Deane-Hughes objected to the loan application by the GoG, specifically to finance the 300-megawatt power plant and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility.
These are two components of the project, the third aspect being a pipeline to transport the natural gas to shore from the Liza One and Two Fields in the Stabroek Block. The pipeline is being funded by American oil major, ExxonMobil and would be repaid by Guyana through the sale of the gas.
On April 16, this newspaper reported that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced the official loan application to the Bank. He said, “The Minister of Finance [Dr. Ashni Singh] has had several engagements with EXIM Bank, and we from what he said, it’s making progress toward the conclusion of the loan. So, progress is being made in that regard.” Budget documents indicate the government is seeking GY$134 billion (US$646 million) for the project, raising further concerns about the country’s debt record.
The activist in her objection to the loan application pointed out that to date no financial and/or any feasibility study for this project, which involves approximately 25km of on-shore pipeline, has been sighted by the people of Guyana, despite repeated requests for the same.
Further, she advised that a civil court case numbered 456/2023-FDA has been filed in the judicial system, challenging the Environmental Permit (EP) issued to Exxon for the pipeline aspect of the project, on the basis of lack of adherence to the rule of law as is stated in the Environmental Protection Act and its guiding regulations.
During his engagement with the press on Thursday, Jagdeo said Deane-Hughes is one of the people from the “so-called environmental lobby” who is concerned about government polluting the world and not following the rules in the production of oil and gas. According to him, “I believe that there is a bigger agenda here and that many people don’t want this project to move forward because this project will mean transformation in Guyana…they are worried this would have a political impact.”
He questioned whether the move was based on good intentions, since Deane-Hughes is sister of Nigel Hughes. Also, he said the brother of Deane-Hughes just recently filed a Court case against the GoG as he was not satisfied with the compensation he was paid for the land being acquired to facilitate the pipeline.
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