…to spite Guyana’s face
Opposition Leader Bharat Jagdeo was once again forced to raise the issue of the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project (AFHEP) – for probably the zillionth time. But really… why does this have to be so? Your Eyewitness can’t see any other reason than this PNC-led government doesn’t want to engage in any initiative that might redound to the credit of the PPP in general, and of Jagdeo in particular.
Now… dear reader… while you may think this answer is rather simple, it is not simplistic. It’s based on the eminently sensible advice offered by Sherlock Holmes: Once you’ve eliminated all other possibilities, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. Now what are those “other possibilities? APNU and AFC have never claimed Guyana doesn’t need hydropower. In fact, Prezzie’s of recent jumped aboard the “Go Green!” Bandwagon with such fervour, you’d be forgiven for assuming he’s vying for the “Champion of the Earth award”.
Hydropower is as green as you can get. Water falls off a cliff through gravity then through a turbine where it spins wire coils around an electromagnet to produce electricity that’s transmitted over “electric wires” to end users! Remember those old fashioned “dynamos” on bicycles that produced “light”?? Same thing, except the falling water does the work of your long suffering feet!! Not even an atom of that nasty Carbon Dioxide produced!
Now before they joined at the hip to get into power, APNU and AFC claimed the PPP government wasn’t giving them a peek at the contracts with Sithe, the developer, and China Development Bank, the financier. Norway, of course, had already lodged Guyana’s contribution of US million. But as soon as Donald Ramotar became President in 2011, he shared all the paperwork with the opposition. Who declared they were “overcome” at the openness of the new government.
But yet they didn’t budge. APNU initially said it was waiting for a “due diligence” report from the IDB, which had US0 million skin in the project. But then APNU suddenly announced they’d “relook” at the contract if they got into power. Now, Sithe’s no fly-by-night operator like, say, Surendra Engineering. They’re part of the Blackstone Group – one of the largest investment entities in the world. As a US corp it’s subject to very stringent financial scrutiny by their regulatory regimes. Not surprisingly, Sithe refused to be hobbled in this manner and walked. And the IDB, considering the project dead, ceased its due diligence study.
So since we still need the hydropower and APNU/PNC’s in power, what’s the hold up now?
Like we said, just blind hatred of Jagdeo!
…on rice
Under the PPP regime, the rice industry broke all sorts of records in production and exporting. We became a significant player after exporting 600,000 tonnes and were poised to hit the million tonne mark. But then the government changed, the PNC-led coalition took Office and the industry collapsed.
What happened? Well, the same thing that happened to AFHEP. An unwillingness to have anything redound to the credit of the PPP and Jagdeo. As a matter of fact, Jagdeo had personally intervened with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela to broker a rice-for-oil deal under the latter’ PetroCaribe Initiative. Guyana was getting one and a half times the prices from other markets – and the farmers responded.
Now as soon as they got into Office, rather than engaging the Venezuelans who’d indicated they were looking at Suriname for a better rice deal, the PNC-led coalition Government launched a feral blast at Maduro on the border front.
To cut Jagdeo’s deal, they ignored that even during actual war, countries negotiated on other vital issues.
…at Skeldon Sugar Factory
How low can the PNC-led coalition Government sink in cutting Guyana’s face? Well, some pretty conclusive evidence’s surfaced that they’ve let the Skeldon Factory fall into disrepair.
Just so to embarrass Jagdeo!
