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‘Govt. must come clean on gas-to-energy project’
– spending US$2B on a project without financial, environmental studies is criminality at its worst – WPA
Kaieteur News – The expenditure by government on a US$2 billion Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project, in the absence of feasibility and environmental studies, amounts to criminality at its worst.
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This is according to the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) which said in a statement on Monday that the continued practice of government, of implementing mega projects or seeking massive loans without the necessary feasibility studies and due diligence exercises is most reprehensible. The political party referenced the absence of a due diligence report on Karpowership, a company with a troubled past, littered with corruption allegations and court cases. On the GTE project, WPA highlighted that the United States Export Import (US EXIM) Bank, which has provided a US$527 million loan to government has said it did not conduct a feasibility study nor is it in the possession of one from the Government of Guyana (GoG).
According to the party, “This is shocking. How can a government spend over US$2 billion on a project without a feasibility study, especially as it relates to the environmental impact? This is financial and environmental criminality at its worst.”
The WPA argued that not only is the government borrowing like a drunken sailor against Guyanese patrimony, but it is potentially putting the country at environmental risk. “Worse, the Vice President was found to be lying when he suggested that EXIM Bank did its own feasibility study. His subsequent explanation, that he was referring to a due diligence study does not get him off the hook. Mr. Jagdeo cannot convince us that he does not know the difference between feasibility and due diligence. It is clear that there is more in the mortar than the pestle,” the political party reasoned.
The WPA said that governance by deception and lying is worse than the Dutch Disease. As such, the party called on the VP to come clean on the Gas-to-Energy project. WPA said that the country cannot continue to be governed in this manner. Considering citizens’ failure to rely on the administration to observe best practices, WPA suggested that the legislation be enacted to ensure such key studies are conducted, prior to the rollout of such major development initiatives. It said, “WPA calls on the National Assembly to consider legislation compelling the government to do feasibility and due diligence studies for large projects.”
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