Musings of desperation, clutching at straws

Dear Editor,
I read with great astonishment the letter captioned, “If gas to shore is that good, then give Guyanese the goods on it” by GHK Lall carried in the April 8 edition of the Kaieteur News. I am one known to be respectful of my elders and it would not be nice of me to say that his letter has the ramblings and musings of someone who is mentally unfit to be taken seriously. Mr Lall appears to be clutching at straws when one understands the real focus of his intended attack. As I often hear my mom admonishing me, “there is a method to the madness”. I wholeheartedly agree, however, when he said his view is “distant…limited”. I might add, it is not scholastic or academic, to say the least when referring to the Government’s energy projects.
Firstly, it was under the Low Carbon Development Strategy that the idea of using solar panels got widespread acceptance as a means of cleaner renewable energy. This led to the Bharrat Jagdeo Government rolling it out in the far-flung hinterland regions and areas in Guyana. This was continued by issuing and gifting solar panels to communities before pushing for their usage to become more residential and commercial.
This should not be confused or mixed up with the gas-to-shore energy project when comparing benefits in terms of sector.  As local Financial Analyst Joel Bhagwandin puts it, “The Government’s transformative gas-to-shore project is underway and is set to be completed by 2023. The main objective is to transport sufficient gas from the Stabroek Block’s petroleum operations to supply some 200-250 megawatts of energy to the national grid, leading to a significant reduction in electricity costs”.
He reasoned, just to school Mr Lall, “Reducing the cost of energy would not only make the country more competitive in terms of we could export more, with the objective of having a trade balance surplus, but we will also save foreign exchange because we spend more than $500 million a year to import fuel”.
And finally said “So, if the gas-to-shore would mean that we will get cheaper electricity, we will be pushing industrialisation and reduce manufacturers’ costs. It also means we are going to save about $250 million or more in fuel import”.
So Mr Jagdeo has our interests at heart when he is pursuing this project from all fronts. The challenges faced by the projects are not insurmountable to dissuade them from being pursued to the fullest. He has shown that with the right skill set and policy direction, anything is accomplishable. Mr Jagdeo is not getting any drawback or side deal to what he does for the project as a VP in the Government. He understands how the energy, gas, and oil sectors work as opposed to the last Government, which did not.
Guyana has the right skills and policies to move forward into the future. It is men like the writer of the musing in the Kaieteur News, and the policy of Kaieteur News of itself that point to “dangerous and dark times” ahead because jealousy trumps the facts, and suspicion overrules their good judgement.
I am confident that Guyana will be safe and the renewable energy projects (both) are in safe hands.

Yours truly,
Attiya Baksh