Dear Editor,
It was my intention to open Pandora’s Box and release its last inmate, Hope. My previous missive was a championing of ‘doom and gloom’ but I am cognisant of the festive season and all it means to us in Guyana. The focus would have been on the Hope Canal, a project conceived as a solution to the catastrophic floods of 2005; a canal that has a carrying capacity of 58 cubic metres per second and serves to drain the East Demerara Water Conservancy of excess water. It is Hope that relieves Guyanese of stress caused by dark clouds and raindrops.
However, fate intervened in the form of a reply (SN 20/12/2018) to the aforementioned ‘doom and gloom’ by Power Producers and Distribution Inc (PPDI).
The PPDI public relations officer falls victim to her inability to read and comprehend when she states that I claim “(PPDI) does not have local content nor does it have the capacity as its predecessor, Wartsila Operations Guyana Inc (WOGI).” For her and the public’s benefit, please allow me to reiterate my position.
PPDI does not have the capacity to build the 300MW power plant envisioned by ExxonMobil. PPDI is a two-year-old state-owned maintenance company with the failure of the Anna Regina and GuySuCo Wartsila engines as part of its record. PPDI has no history of anything other than GPL engine maintenance. PPDI’s local content is not an issue as PPDI would not qualify to tender for building ExxonMobil’s power plant.
Editor, PPDI further states that what I “sought to achieve is to discredit the profound decision-making capabilities of Minister Patterson.” In this, PPDI is correct. Patterson’s fetish for nationalization by other names does irreparable harm to our nation’s future. Minister Patterson declared in parliament that he would save $6 million USD per year by setting up PPDI, poaching the WOGI workforce and awarding PPDI the GPL contracts.
PPDI has never declared a $6 million annual profit, and the resulting loss of the engineering and construction capability of WOGI to Guyana is why ExxonMobil has not begun construction of the power plant. Minister Patterson’s takeover of the Berbice Bridge has also done terrible harm to private investors’ confidence and I regret not being more strident during the creation of PPDI as silence seems to have emboldened the misguided actions of the Minister.
I hope this brings clarity to the issue.
Yours faithfully,
Robin Singh
