Developing…private enterprise

Now that the hitches in the financing of the Wales Gas-to-Shore project’s being sorted out -in the wake of the visit by the head of the US EXIM Bank that’s providing a good chunk of the financing for the 300MW Power Generation plant that will be the foundation for our industrial development – the government has once again announced that it’s looking for investors to finance the initial two projects kicking it off!! The EXIM loan also covers the Natural gas processing (NGL) plant that’s gonna extract the methane from the landed Exxon-pipeline gas for use by the Power Plant. They’ll pass on the Butane and Methane to be bottled for local cooking gas sales.
They’ve gone as far as giving the projects names – stating that the “Guyana Ammonia and Urea Plant Inc.” (GAUP) is estimated to cost US$300M and investors can provide up to US$5M up front. It’s supposed to be a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) with major private-sector financing so the US$5M is just a deposit to show seriousness by the “Engineering, Procurement, and Construction” (EPC) contractor (or consortium) that’s gonna be selected. They’ll be expected to arrange financing supposed to come from their private equity or commercial loans to build and operate the plant!! Ditto on the “Guyana Gas Bottling, and Logistics Company Inc.” (GGBLC), that the govt had set “A cap of US$1 M per investor” towards a total cost of US$40M.
So, what we’re seeing here is that in this PPP business structure, there’s a need for private financing for a total of US$340M – for which the most likely handful of investors are guaranteed a return of 10% on their investment!! Very attractive, innit?? More than TWO AND A HALF TIMES US TREASURY BONDS – seen as the safest investment and in which we plunk down our oil revenues!!
Anyhow, your Eyewitness has a suggestion for the government. Right now, it’s in the throes – some really PAINFUL throes, if your Eyewitness’ experience is any guide!! – of distributing some US$500 to 716,000 Guyanese adult citizens. This will amount to a total of US$358M. Now Pressie’s already announced that there’s gonna be other cash grants coming down the pike – so your Eyewitness’ suggestion is that the next set of cash grants be invested in the name of our 716,000 adult citizens into the companies. They should be registered as corporations so that each citizen will then have shares in the companies and will be GUARANTEED a 10% return ad infinitum!!
The company shares should be allowed to be traded freely on the stock market and if any citizen wants to cash out, they can do so. D’Aguiar did this to launch DIH back in 1957 – and look how well their shareholders have done since!!

…Fla cover
Well, it looks like Sanction Man has resigned himself to being fitted for an orange jumpsuit for a looong stay over in Florida!! NOT a STAY-OVER – that’s what girls do when overnighting at friends’!! Nah…his stay over in Florida gonna be at the Federal Detention Center holding 1500+ inmates in a facility designed for 900!! Sadly, a 2005 U.S. Department of Justice report said that an estimated 12 percent of the complaints received by the department’s inspector general involved inmates claiming sexual victimization by prison staff!! Ouch!!
So why does your Eyewitness feel Sanction Man has accepted his extradition to Miami to face trial for his 11 criminal charges? Well, he announced he’d hired a Florida flack to represent him there. The flack has written to the US Ambassador here – but that’s just a pappy show to hide his acceptance of defeat locally!!
A US lawyer suggesting his country’s ambassador might’ve overstepped her authority ain’t even worth a bucket of warm spit!!

…defamation suits
Sanction Man’s sissie posted that the PPP government “burns” hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars hiring 15 lawyers in the GRA legal battle against the Mohameds.” She included three Court Research Counsels!
Though she deleted the names after the Ct protested, it’s defamatory!!