Former Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, who served under the Granger Administration, is accusing the PPP government of gross mismanagement of the electricity sector, in a letter to the editor on Tuesday.
According to Patterson, despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars – including agreements with more than a dozen countries and the lease of two power ships from Turkey – Guyanese continue to suffer daily blackouts. Patterson says GPL is paying more than GY$75 million a day for those two vessels alone.
Zoning in on the Wales Gas-to-Energy Project – launched in 2021 with a promised completion date of mid-2024, the former minister said is now more than two years past that deadline. The project he said is now plagued with cost overruns exceeding US$500 million, and only 19 percent of its promised output now expected by year’s end.
Patterson also points to a gap between government projections and reality – the administration forecast peak demand would hit 480 megawatts by 2026 to justify the project, but actual peak demand this year stands at just 256 megawatts, roughly half that figure.
Despite the first project’s troubles, Patterson notes government has already pressed ahead with a second gas-to-energy venture – arguing the blackouts can’t be pinned on outside factors he says officials have cited before, from excavator operators to climate change.
GPL and government officials have not yet responded to the letter.