The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has issued a wide-ranging critique of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government, accusing it of incompetence, corruption, and a failure to plan effectively, leading to substantial financial losses for Guyana. In a recent press conference, the opposition party outlined several areas where they assert that the government has mismanaged the nation’s resources.
One of the primary concerns raised by the PNCR is the ongoing electricity blackouts that have plagued Guyana, which the opposition claims are the direct result of poor planning and lack of foresight by the PPP administration. The PNCR referred to studies commissioned by the Coalition government in 2018, which projected that Guyana would require at least 20 megawatts (MW) of additional power each year to meet growing demand.
In their press conference and subsequent media statement, the PNCR categorically refuted claims by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister Ashni Singh that the previous government did nothing to expand power generation capacity. “The records will show that the Coalition government installed 63MW of power from 2015 and purchased an additional 46.5MW of capacity in 2019,” the PNCR stated, pointing out that these investments were made before they left office.
However, according to the opposition, the PPP government has failed to build on this foundation. They criticised the government’s decision to purchase 17 second-hand power generators from Honduras in December 2023 for US$27 million, noting that the generators have been plagued by mechanical issues. “The fact that the government had to resort to such measures speaks volumes about their lack of planning,” the PNCR said.
By 2024, the PPP government sought to address the power crisis by renting power ships. The PNCR viewed this as another emergency measure that reflected the PPP’s inability to take proactive steps. In April 2024, the government rented a 36MW power ship, and in July 2024, they signed a second contract for a 75MW power ship. The PNCR argued that these contracts could have been avoided if the government had taken earlier action, and pointed out that the country could have procured more power for the same cost if it had purchased new generators instead of relying on expensive, short-term power ships.
The PNCR also turned its attention to the government’s management of the national budget, accusing the PPP of continuously mismanaging public funds. Since 2020, the government has presented multiple supplementary budgets, with the most recent in 2023, which amounted to $90 billion — roughly 10 percent of the original budget. The opposition party labelled this as evidence of poor financial planning and said that much of the additional funding has gone unspent or has been allocated to incomplete projects.
The PNCR criticised the government’s inability to deliver on promised projects, despite the significant supplementary funds allocated. They pointed to a meeting held in July 2024 with President Ali, government ministers, engineers, and contractors, which revealed the extent of the government’s ineptitude in planning and management. “This is a government more interested in political intimidation, domination, corruption and cronyism than in improving policies and strategies,” the PNCR stated. They also noted concerns raised about the disproportionate involvement of one ethnic group in the distribution of government contracts.
Another significant issue raised was the government’s failure to ensure proper oversight of Guyana’s rapidly growing oil industry. The opposition party highlighted the government’s lack of capacity to monitor oil contracts and conduct regular audits, which they argue puts the nation in the position of losing hundreds of millions of US dollars in potential revenue.
The PNCR pointed to the results of two oil audits that had already uncovered significant losses due to unapproved and unreasonable expenditures by oil companies. “The PPP has shown little interest in boosting the country’s capacity to monitor and conduct audits of oil contracts on a regular basis,” the PNCR stated.
The PNCR made it clear that in its view, the continued failures of the PPP government could have serious long-term consequences for the country. The opposition party stressed that billions of dollars are being wasted due to governmental incompetence, and that these funds could have been better spent improving the living standards of ordinary Guyanese.
“Guyanese will have to decide if they will continue to allow tens of billions of dollars to be lost through PPP negligence, incompetence, and corruption. This is money that could have been directed towards raising their living standards,” the PNCR declared.
