Snail’s pace development of Wales Power Plant and Gas Plant

Jun 23, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

As a concerned Guyanese Citizen, I live around the Gas-to-Energy Project Area and have seen the snail-slow development of the Wales Power Plant and Gas Plant. For months, little have we seen of the main USA awarded contractors on the area. No jobs, no equipment movements, and given the Site Preparation was publicly scheduled to be finished in June 1st 2023, there are evident delays on the ground not being reported in Georgetown and being kept hushed-hushed even by the opposition media.

The international firms, as they have done in the past, bid and win contracts only to then delay execution to achieve two things: Ask for more time and ask for more money. When are we going to get transparency from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the famous Task Force on what’s happening behind closed doors with this vital project?

My friends at Ogle say the Contractors’ representatives arrive in private jets weekly (they flew commercial before they got this lucrative contract) stay only 3 nights in country if even, and then take back their hotshot executives to their comfy houses in the USA. So my country is not good for them to spend a full week and weekend? Is Guyana only good to siphon money out to pay for them private jets? Other than the Fuel for the plane, paid with Project Money, there is no local expenditure, no local content, no jobs, as seen in the delayed execution of the project.

So imagine if the fancy bankers and company executives fly in today at Ogle, to have them meetings at closed doors, late hours drinks at secluded homes, to negotiate how to take more money from Guyana, say USD 60-100 Million and deliver the promised Energy at a later date, say 8-12 months? And will the contractors start bringing them bankers as an olive branch to dupe our ministry team into signing a bad loan as a solution to a worse price revision at their favor? Surely not we hope. Our leaders are more prepared than this.

Imagine them with the Task Force, Exxon, the Ministry, all behind closed doors driving up the cost and postponing construction and delivery of the long awaited project in my Region. I ask You Editor and Readers, where is the transparency? Or will We be informed only after backroom deals are completed with no oversight?

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

3 thoughts on “Snail’s pace development of Wales Power Plant and Gas Plant”

Amanda Whyte June 23, 2023 at 8:48 am

So not even ExxonMobil nor the US Ambassador travel in Private Jets. Not Our President Ali has been seen traveling in Commercial Airlines to USA and Europe. How much are we paying out of our national resources to fuel these small fries to fly in private jets? Forcing to land at Ogle no less? I guess the drive to CJIA made them spend too long in town. Our schools and hospitals could use those thousands of dollars a day.
Jay King June 23, 2023 at 4:12 pm

Can we get some transparency on these contractors? Why are Guyanese paying for them private Jets? Is this the prudent management of our natural resources? What’s next? Will cost oil also pay for Exxon to use private Jets and fly food from Houston to their new Ogle HQ? We need accountability and transparency
Andrew Wales June 23, 2023 at 9:49 pm

Give us a transparent audit of them private plane travel costs paid by citizens money