Guyana
What good news! It is that “There has been active interest from Brazil to bring Guyana’s Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) into fruition.” This is the word from Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who explained that “Guyana has received proposals from Brazil and other countries for the 165-megawatt hydropower project, a flagship initiative under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).” High on optimism, Jagdeo is anticipating “… that in the near future, Government might go out for another bidding process.” And why not? And the earlier the better.
Editor, not too far back, I recall that President Irfaan Ali, declaring that despite some hiccups, Government was never going to abandon the Amaila Falls Hydro Project. At the time, the President did reveal that the project was currently undergoing a process, and he was most firm, detailing that “… we are not going to abandon this project, if we have to go out again and again, we will.” And why not?
First, I care little for the logistics and minutiae of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project (AFHP), since for me, what is vital is that Guyana simply move ahead and realise this long overdue ambition. It is most necessary from a financial aspect, and of course, in terms of being climate and environmentally wise, it is the way to go. I back up to December 2016, as many of us seem to forget too conveniently. Back then, the independent assessment of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) did reveal that the only realistic path for Guyana moving towards an emission-free electricity sector is by developing its hydropower potential and the fastest way forward is to maintain the AFHP.
This report mind you, was compiled by Norconsult, an engineering and design consultancy firm out of Norway, which was contracted by the Government of Norway, detailed an “objective and facts-based” assessment of the Project on the agreement of the two Governments, and made some telling statements
Essentially, the go-ahead from day one was unambiguous, and that was way back in 2016. Part of the statement says that “It is our opinion that BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) type public-private partnership model should be maintained for the project implementation. An internationally well-merited investor and operator in the hydropower industry should be invited to take the majority position and the driving seat (main sponsor) in the project company. So, irrespective of the means of accomplishing the AFHP, the bottom line is that Guyana must not stall for too long.
Secondly, when it is all said and done, Guyana will be supplied with electricity “at a cost not exceeding US$0.07737 per KWH, as against what currently obtains, which is also largely fossil fuel-based, at $0.32 per KWH. This must not go on. We also know that power is not stable in many areas, and the current high cost of electricity continues to affect operating performance for businesses and is a major challenge to the productive sector, as profitability is severely compromised. My hope is that the opposition and skeptics will be unbiased and quit playing politics. The well-being of all Guyanese is far too important and our leaders must be candid when it comes to overall betterment of the country. Yes, Guyana has oil, and even this emerging Oil and Gas sector is being lambasted. I remind all that renewable energy is growing rapidly around the world, but fossil fuels still make up a majority of the world’s energy use. So, Guyana has to be very prudent.
In terms of where we stand, Jagdeo stated that “We’ve now gotten at least two proposals from companies in Brazil to do the hydro, and then some companies out of the US. Soon, you may see us going back out to another [tender] process. But the Brazilians are still very interested in this regard too.”
I can go on and list so many advantages and positive spin-offs in terms of a Brazil-Guyana joint AFHP realization. But for now, readers can envisage things like “… deepening trade relations with the Linden to Mabura road project, as agricultural activities and exchanges will also be easily facilitated; the soya bean project, corn project, agriculture logistics, moving fertilizer and limestone into northern Brazil because there is a huge demand for it for their agriculture.” In a nut-shell, “A huge set of business there will happen.”
I end by emphasizing that even if Guyana has to shift from the BOOT contract to an EPC (Engineering, procurement, and construction-EPC) one, and it devolves to the government’s lead in having to secure the finances for the project, then so be it. It is the end result that matters, both locally and globally. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, a while back, summed it up succinctly, stating the preference and that “… if we can’t get it done under the BOOT, we will have to retender…”
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Guyana
he Ministry of Agriculture is utilizing part of a US$8.4 million loan to purchase flash drives and tablets.
In an Invitation for Bids (IFB) published in Saturday’s edition of Kaieteur News, the Ministry said it is looking to procure tablets with keyboards and flash drives with financing from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).
Bids to supply the equipment will remain open until July 4, 2023.
Kaieteur News understands that the loan was approved by the agency in 2016 to finance the ‘Hinterland Environmentally Sustainable Agricultural Development Project’.
The lending institution on its website noted that the total cost of the project is pegged at US11.14 million. US$8.45 million is being funded by IFAD while the government is providing US$2.43 million in additional funds to support the initiative.
According to IFAD, the project supports the resilience of rural families and Indigenous peoples by promoting the links between economic diversification, productive transformation, environmental protection and family nutrition. It identifies products that will enable small farmers’ inclusion in markets, which, in turn, will increase local demand for services and labour and strengthen the entire rural economy.
It also seeks to improve small-scale farmers’ access to public services, knowledge and technologies through training and technical assistance in the areas of planning and natural resources management (water, soil, renewable energy, agro-diversity).
It supports local and regional councils as they plan and prioritize investments in local value chains and strengthens their resilience, enabling communities to identify economic opportunities as well as the risks resulting from climate change.
The project also aims to improve food security and nutrition through the promotion of crops, fish and forest products that can sustainably improve household diets. This involves nutrition education and behaviour change activities, including the elaboration of dietary guidelines.
The project will conclude in 2024.
This publication had reported in May last year that the Ministry of Education utilized a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to purchase some 5000 flash drives, in an effort to recover learning losses during the restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a request for bids (RFB) that was published in Kaieteur News, the Ministry said, “The Cooperative Republic of Guyana has received a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank toward the cost of ‘Support to Safety Nets for Vulnerable Populations Affected by Coronavirus in Guyana (Component 2) and it intends to apply part of this loan to payments under the contract for the procurement of 5000 flash drives for schools.”
The notice did not provide details pertaining to who would be the beneficiaries of the flash drives; neither did it explain how the procurement of such equipment would aid in the educational advancement of students or pupils.
Efforts were made by this newspaper to contact the Ministry for further details regarding the procurement of the flash drives but proved futile. Bids to supply the flash drives were later received by the National Procurement and Tender Administration ranging from $9.9 million to $27.5 million.
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Guyana
Contracts in Guyana have the tendency to sweeten the palate and plunge headlong into the labyrinth of misuse and inflated costs to outright theft of state funds. Now comes the PPP’s decision to issue a new brand of ‘hi-tech’ Identification cards. The electronic citizenship card project stands as another example of this government’s autocracy in bypassing the constitutional channels in spending taxpayers’ dollars for a project that should have been evaluated instead of the fait accompli decision. This is a constant reminder of the unfettered powers of Freedom House as exhibited several times on all issues by the honcho and de facto president who believes he knows it all and who wants things to be done his way, or the highway for those who refused or objected.
Simple logic would dictate that if Guyana were interested in an electronic ID system that would allow entry into the country and a range of other hassle-free interventions, then it would issue invitations for public tender, and these would then be tendered to the National Procurement and Tender Administration (NPTAB) for an evaluation committee to make the final determination. Now this is not a matter of urgency so there is no justification because the project cannot be classified as being one of national security so why did the government do its own procuring thereby trampling on its own procurement brother?
However, the real catastrophe emanates from the data base of all Guyanese names – the National Registration Records – a highly flawed, diseased document which cannot even produce an accurate Voters’ List 57 years after Independence! President Ali’s defense of the contract was, as usual, flaccid, and lacking in substance. He told the virtual signing that the Government’s commitment to promote e-governance is to improve the productivity of businesses and delivery of government services through e-health, e-education, e-security, e-agriculture, electronic permits, and licence processing. So here is the Head of State squashing the purpose of the Procurement Commission which leaves many to believe that the E-Identification cards project is laced with inconsistencies..
So here is another potential casualty brewing, exposing the propensity of the de facto President and honcho for ill-conceived projects like the white elephant Skeldon sugar factory, the ill-advised and mis-guided Amalia Falls, and the silly and unthinkable Surendra Hospital. Such a huge expenditure could be better used to improve the poor conditions at all the hospitals throughout the country, repair the wide and deep potholes on the roadways including the so-called poorly constructed highways, and the collection of garbage in the rat-infested Capital and other cities in the country where a few inches of rain would cause severe flooding. The time has come for the taxpayers and the people in general to question how the PPPC government headed by the honcho and the de facto president is spending their dollars. For example, it has been ten years and counting since construction of the Cheddi Jagan Airport has started and today, it is still not completed. Lousy work by the Chinese contractor who are friends of the de facto president is still being paid by the government to correct their own mistakes.
In Guyana, the PPPC government is wasting billions of dollars to build roads, bridges, and a stadium at Palmyra in Berbice which only a handful rich persons will use because of the high cost of transportation. No one, except the honcho and de facto president, knows how much the stadium will cost or how the contractor was awarded the contract. Were there any kickbacks and if so, who it was paid to. So, while the government is investing heavily in hi-tech ID cards and infrastructure which are of little importance to the people, more that 60 percent of the population are poor and are struggling to put food on the table or send their children to school. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the America, and who many Guyanese has held in their hands on the US $:100 bill, has said “where all men think alike no man thinks at all.” We hope the honcho and de facto president understands the wise and well thought out words issued by Franklin.
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Belize
As if there were not enough fires for the Government to be putting out, there is another report tonight that requires some answers, particularly, from the Ministry of Transport. A letter, purportedly sent by Chief Executive Officer, Adele Catzim, is now questioning a payment of over one hundred and eight thousand dollars made out to a relatively new company called, The Sign Factory. The CEO is questioning the procurement procedures used in giving the contract for license plates, asking if they are in accordance with the procurement guidelines. Reports in other media outlets are saying that the contract was issued to a relative of a government minister, but we could not confirm that allegation. We have reached out to the Minister of Transport, Rodwell Williams, but he says he will give a comment when he returns in-country.
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Caribbean
June 12, 2023 — The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has identified two Member States – Dominica and Grenada – to stage Recycle OECS model demonstration projects. The two countries met the eligibility criteria and were deemed most ready and viable for that purpose. The disclosure was made by Mr. Chamberlain Emmanuel, Head of the OECS Environmental Sustainability Division, during the unveiling of the Recycle OECS Project on June 7, the eve of World Ocean’s Day.
The project is aimed at reducing plastic pollution in the OECS. The key outputs are the design and implementation of a model for sustainable waste separation, collection, and recycling of plastic waste for the OECS. An important aspect of the model is that it will consider a regional approach, self-financing, sustainability, and business viability.
Mr. Emmanuel said that the theme for World Ocean Day -“Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing,” resonates with the circumstances and vision of the OECS, which contains an ocean space that is 85 times larger than its land space. For the region’s natural resource-dependent economies, these circumstances call for sustainable approaches that are blue, green, and circular to address the threat of pollution. “In so doing, the Recycle OECS Project is advancing the strides of the region to position our perspectives and prospects toward the vision of A Model Blue Economy Region.” He observed that the region is “littered with plans – vision plans, strategic plans, and action plans, but there is a wide lag in implementation,” and challenged Member States to “change the tides and get it done”.
Country representatives from Dominica and Grenada indicated that they are keen to accept the offer to stage demonstration projects. Speaking on behalf of the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority, Senior Public Relations Officer Myrna Julien said, the opportunity is timely for Grenada.
“We are at the crossroads of changing the way we manage waste, with plans to focus greater attention on waste diversion, both as a means of encouraging businesses to be born out of waste, while cutting back on waste going to the landfills, and for addressing the countless environmental and public health challenges that have emerged from improper disposal of waste, ” She added that Grenada’s selection “will be good news for all our stakeholders in the fight against marine pollution, including Government Ministries, NGOs and interests in the private sector.”
Board member of the Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation (DSWMC), Ms. Kimisha Thomas, conveyed gratitude on behalf of the Board of Directors, and the Ministry of Environment, Rural Modernisation, Kalinago Upliftment and Constituency Empowerment. She noted that the Project will help OECS member states “to align themselves to the United Nations Environment Assembly Resolution 5/14, which seeks to End Plastic Pollution.”
Recycle OECS is funded by the European Union and implemented by the OECS Commission in partnership with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). The two-year Project supports the broader European Union (EU) Zero Waste initiative in the Caribbean Programme, which aims to strengthen the EU-Caribbean partnership for cooperation in the field of circular economy and solid waste management. AFD’s Director, Mr. Marc Dubernet, highlighted public policy dialogue and public awareness as project outputs that are essential for sustainability. “AFD would like to thank the European Union for its renewed trust towards our institution, as well as the OECS for our fruitful collaboration and the start of what will be, I believe, a high-impact project for the Caribbean region.”
Representing the EU at the ceremony was Ms. Susana Fuertes, Programme Officer and Climate Change Focal Point for Green Deal Partnership for the Caribbean. She indicated that the Project “will support the improvement in investment in the waste sector as well, which presents many opportunities for explorations and synergies under the Global Gateway Investment Agenda, which will be presented at the next summit in July.”
Following the official sign-off by the selected Member States, their waste management authorities will work with the technical consultants to commence stakeholder engagement activities to present the model and adapt it. Once finalized, the model will be made available to other OECS Member States and Small Island Developing States in the Region for adoption or adaption.
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