The death knell of a deep-water harbour

Dec 05, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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…Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News- Fifteen years is an eternity in the world of global trade and infrastructure. Long enough for empires to rise and fall, markets to shift, and opportunities to vanish. Yet, for Bharrat Jagdeo and his cherished vision of a deep-water port in Guyana, it has been little more than a drawn-out pipe dream. What began with lofty ambitions during his presidency has devolved into a cautionary tale of a missed opportunity.

Jagdeo, known for his penchant for grandiose ideas, championed the deep-water port as a transformative project for Guyana—a gateway to Brazil and beyond. The economic rationale was compelling enough: by providing a major transshipment hub for goods to and from northern Brazil, Guyana could cut shipping times and costs while positioning itself as a strategic player in regional trade. It was a vision laden with promise, but as with many of Jagdeo’s dreams, it lacked the grounding in reality necessary for execution.

In 2010, amid the pomp of a Mercosur summit in Brazil, it was reported that a technical team was going to be established to look at the harbour and the accompanying Linden-Lethem road pavement. Yet, more than a decade later, only one of those projects—the road—has seen even partial progress, thanks largely to a UK infrastructure initiative aimed at countering China’s growing influence in the Caribbean. The deep-water harbour, meanwhile, remains exactly where it started: on paper, a figment of Jagdeo’s imagination, collecting dust.

The folly of Guyana’s slothfulness has never been clearer than in the wake of Peru’s Chancay deep-water port project. With a $3.6 billion investment from China’s COSCO Shipping Ports and Peru’s Volcan Compañía Minera, the Chancay port is no mere pipe dream; it is a reality nearing completion. Boasting a depth of 17.8 meters, it will accommodate the massive cargo ships that dominate global trade. More significantly, it is complemented by a Chinese-funded railway connecting the port to Brazil’s Amazonas state, enabling direct trade between South America and China without the need for transshipment through Central or North America.

This is not just an infrastructure project; it is a geopolitical coup. The Chancay port eliminates the very advantage Guyana’s proposed harbour was supposed to have: proximity to Brazil’s northern trade routes. By drastically reducing shipping times and costs, Chancay will dominate the region’s trade, leaving little room for Guyana to assert itself. What was once a strategic opportunity for Guyana has been co-opted and executed more effectively by others.

The failure to act quickly on the deep-water harbour has eroded whatever feasibility the project might have had. Worse, it has revealed the fundamental flaw in the PPPC government’s approach to infrastructure: a crippling inability to move beyond rhetoric. Even now, with oil revenues flowing into the state’s coffers, the project is not a front-burner.

Jagdeo, in a position of considerable influence within the government, might have used this windfall to revive his pet project. Instead, he has allowed it to languish, a casualty of shifting priorities and mounting competition.

The Chancay project is more than just competition; it is the final nail in the coffin for Guyana’s deep-water port ambitions. By the time the feasibility of the Guyanese port is reconsidered—if ever—it will no longer be relevant. The trade routes will already be dominated by Chancay, and the economic rationale for a Guyanese counterpart will have evaporated.

This is not to say that Jagdeo lacks vision. On the contrary, his ideas often reflect a keen understanding of Guyana’s potential. But vision alone is not enough. It must be paired with the political will, technical expertise, and administrative capacity to see projects through to completion. On this front, Jagdeo and his government have consistently fallen short.

The Chancay project is a lesson in execution. Within three years, it has gone from concept to near-completion, backed by strategic investments and a clear roadmap for integration into global trade networks. It stands as a stark contrast to Guyana’s stalled efforts, highlighting the gap between ambition and achievement.

The deep-water harbor in Guyana was always going to be a challenging undertaking, but it was not an impossible one. With the right leadership and timely action, it could have been a game-changer for Guyana. Instead, it joins the growing list of missed opportunities. For Guyana, the lesson is clear: dreams must be acted upon with urgency, especially in a competitive global environment. Infrastructure projects are not static opportunities; they evolve and adapt to changing conditions. Those who fail to keep pace are left behind, their ambitions rendered obsolete by more agile competitors.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

(The death knell of a deep-water harbour)

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