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Govt. hanging cheaper electricity on GTE project despite unknown final cost – Cathy Hughes
Kaieteur News- Without knowing the total cost for the gas-to-energy project, Alliance for Change (AFC) Member of Parliament (MP) Cathy Hughes said the government is hanging cheaper electricity for citizens on a project which price tag is uncertain.
AFC Member of Parliament, Cathy Hughes (unknown final cost)
Hughes, during her budget debate presentation on Thursday, told the National Assembly that there is no guarantee that the gas-to-energy project will indeed slash electricity costs by half.
“On the power generation front, the Government is hanging the transformation of the economy through cheaper electricity cost on the finalisation of the Gas-to-Shore project-now costing the taxpayers of Guyana US$2.4 billion, a cost increase of more than 200% and counting,” she said.
Hughes continued, “Today no one knows for sure when this project will be completed, what the total cost will end up being, and if indeed the cost of electricity to the consumer will be reduced by 50%.”
There have been many criticisms from civil society as well as the opposition about the project with stakeholders calling for the feasibility studies and project documents to be released.
The media has repeatedly asked about the feasibility and project documents and have been told by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo to ask the subject minister Vickram Bharrat, Minister of Governance Gail Teixeira or Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips. Those ministers have all sent reporters back to the Vice President.
On January 28, 2025, Kaieteur News reported that the expenditure by government on the US$2B Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project, in the absence of feasibility and environmental studies, amounts to criminality at its worst.
The Working People’s Alliance (WPA), in a statement on Monday, noted 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 Vice President 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.”
(Govt. hanging cheaper electricity on GTE project despite unknown final cost – Cathy Hughes)
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