Dear Editor,
INews reports that Lindsayca has been granted the contract to build an oil refinery as well as the power station, gas to shore, and other projects in Guyana that may exceed US$2 billions. Lindsayca has teamed up with a Dominican company, probably the same one that hosted Bill Clinton who visited Guyana for a fee to secure the contract. Why is a company from Dominican Republic preferred over a Guyanese company?
Apparently, Lindsayca has abandoned CH4 which was preferred by the Guyana government for projects. It is not known why CH4 is dumped and whether it received compensation. Is CH4 under the radar of the USA government. Is CH4 connected with Venezuela and illegal activities such as money laundering? Has the US taken a position against them?
I googled Lindsayca and can’t find substantive information of its construction projects. It only states that it is an oil and gas company. There is no connection to work done on gas to shore or oil refinery or power projects. It gives an impression of what one will call a bottom house project in Guyana.
The DR company has been in the news since last year. Government had announced that a DR company would be contracted to build the Berbice refinery even before bids were announced and long before any selection made. The selection of a contractor stinks to the heavens.
Why does the government believe that it can lock in Lindsayca and the DR company that it will be retained if there is a change in government. If government changes, won’t the new government carry out an investigation? How else can Lindsayca and the DR company be held accountable? Will government grant tax exemption to Lindasacya and the DR company?
The oil refinery project slated for Berbice was supposed to be announced over a year ago. Government stated that there will be a final announcement by end of March which is now here. Why is the announcement date changing? It is suspicious.
Berbicians are not fools. We have seen what happened to the Skeldon project in which US 200M was lost, a decision of a man who thinks he is a genius. Are government functionaries waiting for the right deal for themselves? Is every project determined by how much fees will be received? Will the USA tolerate corruption?
Government is reminded that election is only 15 months away. We changed election outcome of 2011, 2015, and 2020 elections. PPP didn’t learn any lesson. We will do it again next year.
The whole country is being given away to foreigners and Guyanese are not direct beneficiaries of major contracts. Guyanese built major business around the world. Why can’t a Guyanese company get the contract to build the oil refinery, gas to shore, power plant and other major projects? No company in DR is better positioned to do the oil refinery than Guyanese.
Why is the DR company selected over Guyanese. Instead of DR company getting the contract to team up with Lindsayca, why not a Guyanese company? If a DR company can hire former Presidents and Prime Ministers and others to lobby for them and pay contract fees to government functionaries and still make profit, imagine the over cost. A Guyanese company can achieve same.
Yours truly,
Edward Burrowes
