By Mark DaCosta- In a scathing response to the government’s Budget 2025, former Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson delivered a powerful speech in Parliament, accusing the administration of neglecting the needs of ordinary Guyanese citizens while continuing to prioritise the interests of the political elite.
The former minister began his address by commending the Ministry of Finance for presenting the budget, acknowledging the hard work of civil servants involved. However, he quickly pivoted to criticise the budget for lacking substance and vision. He described the financial plan as “a missed opportunity to provide meaningful solutions for the people of Guyana,” asserting that it did not reflect any long-term strategy for the nation’s sustainable development. Instead, he accused the government of continuing policies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy and political allies, while the majority of the population struggles with economic hardship.
One of Patterson’s most pointed critiques was aimed at two of the government’s flagship infrastructure projects — the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project and the Wales Gas to Shore initiative. Patterson recalled the earlier government’s attempts to move forward with the Amaila Falls hydropower project. He said that the current administration was repeating the same mistakes and questioned the feasibility of the project, especially in light of an assessment by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
According to Patterson, the IDB’s findings indicated that the project would face major financial hurdles due to the extremely low credit rating of the initiative. Despite these warnings, Patterson argued, the government persisted in its pursuit of the project, potentially putting the national budget at risk without any viable plan to guarantee its success.
On the Wales Gas-to-Shore project, Patterson raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of the initiative, which he described as a short-term solution that failed to address the core issues of energy security and infrastructure development. He suggested that the project was being promoted as a panacea for Guyana’s energy challenges without a clear understanding of its environmental impact and its costs. Patterson questioned whether the gas-to-shore project would truly benefit ordinary citizens.
A significant portion of Patterson’s speech focused on the government’s management of the oil and gas sector, particularly the handling of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF). He argued that the government’s strategy for utilising these funds lacked transparency and a clear vision for long-term economic growth. Patterson also criticised the government for not taking sufficient action to renegotiate the terms of the Stabroek Block oil contract with ExxonMobil, which he said was one of the most unfavorable agreements in the region.
He pointed out that despite Guyana’s vast oil wealth, there has been little to no progress on using those revenues to build sustainable infrastructure or diversify the economy. Instead, he accused the government of squandering the oil funds on non-essential projects, without putting a plan in place to safeguard the country’s future. Patterson emphasised that the government needed to focus on long-term investments in education, health, and infrastructure to avoid falling into a “resource curse” where reliance on oil would leave the country vulnerable to global price fluctuations.
Another focal point of Patterson’s critique was the government’s handling of the country’s energy sector, particularly the electricity grid. Patterson reminded the House that the issue of power generation and supply had been forecasted as a critical concern for years, with government officials failing to take action until the problem had reached crisis levels. Patterson pointed to the rising demand for electricity, which had been consistently predicted since 2018 but had not been adequately addressed by the current administration.
He decried the government’s failure to act on these projections, which had led to emergency measures such as the rental of power ships and the purchase of second-hand generators. He also criticised the government’s inability to improve the performance of Guyana Power and Light (GPL), which continues to experience outages and inefficiencies, despite receiving large allocations of government funding.
Patterson was also highly critical of the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP), which he claimed had been plagued by delays and cost overruns. He noted that several key infrastructure projects, such as the New Demerara River Bridge, the East Coast Road Linkage, and numerous road rehabilitation projects, had either stalled or been delayed, despite significant financial allocations. Patterson highlighted the discrepancy between the funds earmarked for these projects and the actual progress made, questioning the government’s ability to efficiently manage the nation’s resources.
Patterson noted that the absence of meaningful progress on these critical projects had direct consequences for citizens, particularly those in rural and underdeveloped areas. He stressed that the failure to deliver on these projects would hinder Guyana’s development and exacerbate existing inequalities.
In closing, Patterson made a strong call for a new development strategy that would prioritise the needs of all Guyanese citizens. He urged the government to move away from short-term political maneuvering and focus on creating sustainable, inclusive growth. He argued that instead of continuing to make political promises with no clear results, the government needed to focus on tangible investments that would benefit all Guyanese, particularly in sectors such as education, healthcare, energy, and infrastructure.
Patterson concluded by reiterating that Budget 2025 represented another missed opportunity to address the real challenges facing the nation. Instead of offering a vision for the future, Patterson argued, the budget was merely a reflection of the government’s desire to hold onto power and protect the interests of the elite. He called on the government to listen to the concerns of ordinary Guyanese and work toward a more inclusive and transparent future.
