AFC pitches development of bipartisan, national plan for Guyana

– urges Pres Ali to summon meeting with political parties, experts

The Alliance For Change (AFC), which formed one half of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)-AFC coalition government from 2015 to 2020, is now calling on the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government to bring together all parties and stakeholders from across the country, to come up with a 10- to 15-year development plan.
Making this call on Friday was AFC Leader Nigel Hughes, who said that his party was calling on President Dr Irfaan Ali to convene a meeting that would bring together other political parties, as well as the appropriate technical minds, to come up with a multi-year development plan in at least five areas –the economy, education, foreign affairs, health, and poverty reduction.
“I think that’s the responsible way forward. And I wanna repeat, the Alliance For Change has called to the President, to convene such a meeting of all the parties and all the appropriate technical skills, so we can have this 10- to 15-year plan in education, economy, foreign affairs, poverty and health.”

“Everything else we can compete at in the national elections. But let us sign off on a long-term plan in those five areas. And I hope the President listens to this. And consults with, doesn’t have to consult with us, but with other persons. And we can arrive at a plan everyone signs off on,” Hughes said.
The AFC Leader noted that in areas such as agriculture, collective heads should come together to decide on what model Guyana should follow as a country, that would ensure more opportunities for Guyanese whether on the business side of the sector or as employees.
“The country is more likely to benefit if all the collective skills, all the political parties, the best economists come together and work out that plan, we all sign off on it. And then we can compete in the frills of that plan. But at the end of the day, it is fundamental. We know it’s there. And whoever is in office has signed off on it.

“It is clear, that the obvious advantage to that is if you have a 10- to 15-year economic plan signed off by all the political parties, that sends a very positive message to the business community… it also allows us to plan long term. And irrespective of the changes that take place at every election cycle, we know that there’s a commitment.”
While Hughes has made a pitch for President Ali to convene meetings that would include national stakeholders and Opposition parties to come up with a national development plan, such a consultative approach is nothing new to successive PPP/C Governments.
Under the Presidency of Dr Cheddi Jagan (1992-1997), the National Development Strategy (1996) was introduced. Meanwhile, under the presidency of Bharrat Jagdeo (1999-2011), three such strategies – the Poverty Reduction Strategy (2000), the National Competitiveness Strategy (2006), and the Low Carbon Development Strategy (2009) were developed. Under the current President, an updated Low Carbon Development Strategy that would cover the years 2022-2030 was also achieved.

Diversify
Hughes also spoke of the need to diversify the economy and move Guyana from being a primary product-producing country to one that can develop its resources at the secondary and tertiary level – something that the PPP/C Government is addressing right now, through its efforts to bring cheap and reliable electricity to Guyanese. The cost of energy has often been cited as a major bugbear to the manufacturing sector.
The AFC Leader gave as an example lithium, which the PPP/C Government has already started seeking investors to explore. According to Hughes, the country must look at whether lithium products can be made in Guyana, such as computer chips, to turn the country into a secondary and not just a primary producer of lithium.
“If we know for example that we have another rare earth metal, here in Guyana, we need to look at how we can value add, look at the global market, and see how we can develop those industries in Guyana. Because unless we do the spread, we are going to have problems,” he said.
A core part of the PPP/C Government’s efforts to increase value-added production in Guyana, across all sectors, is its efforts to bring down the cost of electricity while increasing its efficiency. This plan includes its model Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project which is being constructed in Wales, West Bank Demerara, and will include a 300-megawatt power plant that will utilise gas from the Liza field offshore.
The excess gas from the Stabroek Block is what will be used for the gas monetisation project. Among the projects being considered under the gas monetisation project are a shore base facility, an additional power plant as well as a potential joint Guyana-Suriname aluminium plant facility.
The Guyana Government has been touting an aluminium plant here since August 2022 – something which the Guyanese Leader recommitted to establishing during the Energy Conference held in Georgetown back in February.
Meanwhile, the Government, in staying true to its promise, had also reinvited Requests for Proposals (RFPs) under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model, to advance the development of the long-awaited Amalia Falls Hydropower Project.
Back in December, four companies – Rialma S.A. (Grupo Rialma) from Brazil; China International Water & Elec. Corp; Lindsayca CH4 Guyana Inc, and a group made up of OEC, GE Vernova, and Worley – had submitted tenders to be prequalified for this project. (G3)