Jagdeo says US$650k consultancy contract for GPL is a small amount

Aug 01, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday defended the monthly cost of US$650,000 being charged by a Dominican Republic Company -Inter Energy Group (IEG) to provide management supervision for the beleaguered Guyana Power and Light Inc.

Jagdeo said the figure is a small amount. He explained that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the company since early last year and it was for the supervision of infrastructure the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) needs. “You want when you build something, a tower, like those towers you want to build them to international standards. You can’t get the GPL staff to supervise it. They don’t have time, they were busy trying to keep the power on and fixing the old system, you know, some of the transformers that are going out. So, you have to get a firm to supervise and often a firm to supervise project they come between 5% of the contract price to 5 to 8% of the contract price,” the VP explained.

He went on to say the sum is significantly lower and it is several things. The company is well known and has great technical abilities and looking at this supervision cost compared to the scope of the civil work contract it is small. “…it was not secretly done, you can’t secretly hire somebody as Mahipaul has been pushing. Mahipaul has been trying hard to talk they are trying to resurrect this whole thing about corruption. Imagine that coming from Mahipaul,” he stressed.

Jagdeo then went on to clarify that no agreement has been signed as negotiations are still ongoing. He disclosed that, “There is a proposal that went to cabinet that spoke of this but we now need to see that they’re actually delivering on what is in the proposal. When a company makes an offer, you get you look at it, compare it with others, but then you have to discuss and concretise in clear legal language what this is, and that negotiation is still ongoing, and I’m not even sure it will be concluded before the elections.” The VP assured the media that when the agreement is signed it will be made public but if negations break down then they will have to return to the drawing table, however it is the hope that this does not occur.

Cabinet gave its no-objections to the contract at its meeting on July 7, 2025, according to documents seen by this newspaper. According to the Cabinet paper titled:’ Contract for the provision of consultancy services Guyana Power and Light Inc.’ cabinet reviewed a memorandum presented by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh and granted its no-objection.

Mahipaul in a statement Wednesday night said this is a slap in the face to the Guyanese people. “This secretive, bloated arrangement is emblematic of a government more concerned with wasting Guyanese money than empowering local talent or delivering reliable electricity to citizens.” According to Mahipaul, US $7.8 million per year, without competitive tender, without public consultation, and without parliamentary scrutiny, is not just poor governance, it is an insult to taxpayers, workers, and every Guyanese family struggling with blackouts and high bills. He said the PPP/C Government greenlit this deal behind closed doors, rather than public accountability. “There was no transparent procurement process. No opportunity for local or regional firms to compete. No independent evaluation of the contract’s necessity or cost. This was governance by executive fiat, not democratic principle.
Even worse, the contract places a foreign entity in a position of immense power over GPL’s technical operations, procurement, hiring, and contractor engagement. In essence, we’re being asked to pay tens of millions for a foreign company to run our power sector while sidelining qualified Guyanese engineers and administrators,” Mahipaul noted.

He asked” Where is the benefit to the people of Guyana? Who exactly is this deal designed to help? InterEnergy, or ordinary Guyanese?” The PNCR executive said the PPP/C’s decision opens the door to widespread job losses within GPL and PPDI. “Already, workers are anxious about what’s to come, and no binding commitment has been made to protect their positions. Is this the Government’s development model?To import consultants and export our livelihoods? Worse still, InterEnergy’s track record is far from pristine. Under its stewardship in Jamaica, reports surfaced of worsening outages and alleged mismanagement. Why would our Government award such sweeping control to a company with unresolved baggage?”

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• Consultancy contract, Dominican Republic Company, GPL, IEG, Jagdeo

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