Lindsayca: more money, more time

Sep 09, 2026 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – The US$2B Wales Gas-to-Energy (GtE) provides a textbook case of how business is conducted in Guyana. Lindsayca Guyana Inc., a U.S. firm with Venezuelan links, is seeking another US$170M on to top of the US$759M that was the original contract price agreed upon and executed. Sometime ago, the number that was circulating for additional funding needed stood at close to US$250M.

It seems that Guyana is now benefitting from a 32% discount. What is clear is how sanctity of contract can be played with, then revised, and holding to the original terms and conditions does not matter. The inviolability of contracts loses standing when parties other than Guyana are the ones that gain a benefit.

In view of what we at this paper have heard repeatedly from the highest offices in Guyana, with President Irfaan Ali in the lead, a contract is a contract. It should not be touched, it cannot be tampered with, it must stay the way that it started out, regardless of what is the product or service involved. But there is this contradiction that is now in the open and offends the intelligence of citizens. There are reports of Lindsayca Guyana making its case for more money from Guyana to move the already expensive Wales GtE along. It is not a small sum of money. It is US$170M or 22% above the original contract price of US$759M. In Guyana dollars, it is $32B, a weighty sum by itself, and which should give pause.

Why is the PPP/C Government giving any time, even listening, to this development for more millions from Lindsayca Guyana? Is this brainchild of Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyana’s suddenly missing in action oil and gas leader, set to go the way of other PPP Government-originated and Jagdeo-sponsored projects? A failure and the latest nonperformer? The project is already years behind schedule. Citizens have been disappointed repeatedly, while the project’s cost goes up, through penalties awarded, the delays which do not come without their own costs. What are the energy consumers of this country going to get when this project is finally completed? It could be a project that costs taxpayers so much that the promised 50% cut in electricity prices is either a mirage, or a scheme that has con written all over it. In other words, the US$2B Wales GtE is not worth it anymore.

Another concern of ours is how capable Lindsayca Guyana Inc., is in delivering on the gas conversion and electricity generation plants? From as early as its own 2024 Annual Report, its money woes were made plain: “negotiations with the Government of Guyana for a significant contract price adjustment are at an advanced stage, providing strong evidence of the Group’s ability to continue to meet its commitments.” Almost two years ago Guyana’s Wales GtE partner was in a financial hole, and looking for the Government of Guyana to bail it out. Give it a little time, and the Wales GtE could bear a close resemblance to the Chinese-led Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion Project. A project that was always extending its delivery deadlines, and with a claim for more money to keep going.

Separate and apart from the aforementioned, it is worrying that this Houston-based American company has such close ties to Venezuela. Examples of its involvement and generosity include being the primary sponsor for a Venezuelan PGA Tour golfer, and other golf competitions inside of Venezuela. Lindsayca Guyana is also recognised for its financial support for cultural preservation activities in Venezuela, as well as a giver of disaster diplomacy funds. We think that a fair question, given the continually cash-strapped condition of Lindsayca Guyana, is whether some of Guyana’s millions are being used to boost Venezuelan businesses and activities. Some industry observers and strategists believe that this is what is happening in plain sight. The bottom line is that Lindsayca is flying an American flag, but has been very much up to its elbows in Venezuelan matters. How this is acceptable to Guyana’s PPP/C Government is simply part of the mystery of how governance and leadership operate in this country. Bluntly, Lindsayca should not be here, should not be accommodated with one penny more.

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Editorial, Lindsayca Guyana Inc, PPP/C Government, Wales Gas-to-Energy

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