Once again, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government has attempted to present fake news to justify its obdurate rejection of making an impartial evaluation of the Amaila Falls Hydro Electricity Project (AFHEP) as a central cog in our country’s transformation into a “green economy”, which ironically, it articulated as its goal in its “Green State Development Strategy”.
Before assuming office, APNU and AFC’s refusal to endorse AFHEP forced the main developer, Sithe Global to walk away from the project. They claimed they were awaiting an evaluation from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which was in receipt of US million from Norway that was committed to the AFHEP. But with no developer, the IDB declared an investigation was moot and now ensconced in Government, APNU/AFC went to great lengths to avoid re-evaluating the AFHEP, while seeking to use the US million for other projects.
However, after attending COP25 in Paris, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman announced, “… the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet considered it the best option for an objective re-assessment (of AFHEP). This decision follows up on one taken by the country in Paris, France, in December 2015 to conduct a review of the project’s current financial model, which the Government believes could shackle many generations of Guyanese to debt.”
Norconsult, an engineering and design consultancy firm out of Norway, was contracted by the Government of Norway, for an “objective and facts-based” assessment, which was released in December 2016. However, just before the report was made public, the Government of Guyana, through Minister David Patterson, issued a statement claiming that the Norconsult consultancy justified Government’s position that the AFHEP was not financially viable for the country and would be a burden to the people of Guyana.
But when the report was made public, its conclusions and recommendations were the complete opposite and declared that the only realistic path for Guyana to move towards an emission-free electricity sector and achieve its 2025 green agenda commitment was to develop its hydropower potential in general and maintain the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project in particular. We pointed out at the time that the only apparent reason for the Government’s rejection of the AFHEP was because it was a component of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) that had been promulgated by the Bharrat Jagdeo regime.
Now comes further confirmation of the Government’s willingness to expose itself to international derision as it seeks to get its hands on the US million lodged with the IDB without committing itself to the AFHEP. Last week, Per Fredrik Pharo, Special Envoy and Director of the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative, was forced to issue a statement bluntly pointing out, “retired Rear Admiral Gary Best (Presidential Advisor on the Environment) presents a number of misleading arguments about the Guyana-Norway Agreement.
“The cornerstone of our partnership is the original Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from 2009. The MoU establishes that results-based funding from Norway is to be used to implement the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), the core of which was forest protection and a renewable energy transition with the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project at its heart. This is also reflected in our Joint Concept Notes (JCN) from 2012 and 2015.”
The Special Envoy of Norway presented the Government of Norway’s position on the AFHEP very clearly: “We strongly defend the right of a government to set the development path of its country. But if that development path were to deviate from that which was the basis for our partnership, then it is not the right of a government to retain the benefits of a partnership based on commitments it no longer intends to fulfil.” In other words, reading between the lines, no AFHEP, no Norway money.
However, the envoy did say if the Government can present “a concrete, realistic and cost-effective plan for Guyana’s energy transition,” – presumably without the AFHEP – Norway would be inclined to support it. So, we believe, would most Guyanese. We await the details of that plan, rather than the AFHEP being rejected without facts.
