Guyana commits to funding US$450m hydro-power project

Guyana’s president Bharrat Jagdeo says with the rising fuel and energy prices his government will ensure the Amelia Falls hydro-power project becomes a reality.

According to the Government Informational Agency (GINA), the Guyanese leader, while addressing residents in Berbice over the weekend, said before he leaves office he wants to ensure that he builds the hydro-electric power facility, estimated to cost in the vicinity of US$450 million.

On May 7, when he announced additional measures to cushion the impact of rising food and other prices, Jagdeo had noted that Guyana has a very high consumption of fuel per capita.

The president noted that the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) has requested additional subsidies, and that the administration will have to channel another $700 million into the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) in order that water cost will not increase.

"This is why we use now the equivalent of 35 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to import fuel. If it (fuel) goes to US$200 (per barrel) as predicted… I don’t think it’s going to get there in the near term… but assuming that that happens, close to 70 per cent of the GDP would be used to import fuel… No country could sustain that kind of financial resources without there being serious problems," Jagdeo said then.

Alluding to the rising price of fuel worldwide, he also outlined some of the measures already taken by the Guyana government in its attempt to cushion the impact on Guyanese. Some of those measures, he said, include the government’s subsidising of the energy and water sectors.

He had also stressed that renewable energy resource was the answer.

(Caribbean Net News)