President Ali,
I write following your recent press conference and your subsequent engagements with the Parliamentary Committees on matters affecting Guyana.
I listened carefully to your assessment of the electricity crisis, the cost of living, economic growth, our oil revenues, the Third Country National Agreement with the United States, and the wider challenges confronting the country.
On the problems you identified, I agree with you. The blackouts are unacceptable. The burden of cost of living is real. The rapid expansion of Guyana’s economy, the high demand for reliable and affordable electricity; need for our oil wealth to translate into a better life for our people, along with parliamentary engagement on matters affecting Guyana’s sovereignty and international obligations.
President Ali, as you have done and most have found undeniable, these problems exist.
Then the question is why, with the resources now available to your Government, Guyanese are still being asked to carry the burden of problems that Government had the responsibility to anticipate and manage?
𝟏. 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘- 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆
You described the recent blackouts as “unpleasant” and “unacceptable” and acknowledged that fixing the electricity system requires major investment rather than a short-term solution. GPL has subsequently confirmed that peak demand reached 257 MW against installed capacity of 265.6 MW, while overloaded feeders and transformers are contributing to outages.
That assessment exposes the failure of planning. Your Government has presided over several housing, commercial and industrial expansion. You now acknowledge that this expansion has pushed electricity demand beyond what the transmission and distribution system can reliably carry.
Economic growth cannot be planned separately from the electricity needed to sustain it.
The Government knew Guyana was growing. It knew new housing was being built. It knew businesses and industries were expanding. It knew air-conditioning and other electricity demand would increase. The Government knew this, because they are the ones advancing these agendas. With these advancing agendas The grid had to grow with the economy.
Instead, Guyanese are now being told to ration electricity and endure daily outages while your Government catches up. They did not design the energy policy, your Government did. They did not select the Wales Gas to Energy site, your Government did. They did not negotiate the contracts, your Government did. They did not rent the powerships, it is your government that did.
President Ali, Guyanese should not therefore be made to pay for the consequences of your Government’s failed decisions, they did not make.
𝟐. 𝐆𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐘- 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐄 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍
The Gas to Energy project was intended to transform Guyana’s electricity supply and reduce generation costs. Instead, the project has suffered prolonged delays and escalating costs, with the promised operational timetable moving well beyond the original target. The President has now indicated that the plant should be coming on stream later in 2026, with further components expected during 2027.
President Ali, it was your Government that chose Wales. It proceeded despite concerns surrounding the location and the engineering challenges. Those decisions belong to your Government alone.
So, when you are now expressing frustration with the project, that frustration cannot be separated from your Government’s own responsibility for the decision-making that brought Guyana here.
While Guyanese wait for Wales, the country has had to rely on expensive temporary powership generation and additional fuel.
That is not simply a construction problem. It is a national economic problem, where the original cost was set at US$750M, it has now escalated well over US$2B. With the original promise of approximately a 50 percent reduction in electricity costs now requires a much more serious explanation.
A cheaper fuel source does not automatically mean a 50 percent reduction to the consumer if the transmission and distribution network cannot reliably carry the power, if substantial grid investment remains necessary, and if the project itself has accumulated additional costs through delays of over 2 1/2 years.
The public therefore deserves the complete calculation of what will Gas to Energy ultimately cost Guyana? What will the final cost of generation be? What will be spent to integrate that power into GPL and does the promised 50 percent reduction still stand?
𝟑. 𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐂 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄
President Ali, your Government points to extraordinary economic growth.
The figures are significant but growth in GDP cannot by itself be the measure of prosperity, as many Guyanese are seeing reflected in their own lives. That growth does not automatically translate into development, especially in the lives of Guyanese. Your Government’s own reporting shows consumer prices continuing to rise, with food prices increasing faster than the overall rate. You have acknowledged that cost of living is a genuine problem and have also said that cash transfers cannot by themselves solve its structural causes.
President Ali, with these expressed sentiments, I fully agree. That cash grants can cushion a family. They cannot build purchasing power. They cannot permanently lower the price of food. They cannot create productive employment. They cannot substitute for wages that allow a working family to live with dignity.
This is where your Government economic story meets the reality of the working class. A family does not experience GDP. It experiences the grocery bill. It experiences the electricity bill. It experiences transportation, rent, school expenses and the price of cooking gas. Guyana is earning more from its natural resources now than at any point in its history. Yet the ordinary citizen must still ask how that wealth is changing the cost and quality of everyday life?
𝟒. 𝐎𝐈𝐋 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇- 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓
There must also be precision when we discuss Guyana’s increasing share of petroleum production.
President Ali, you stated, in August that Guyana’s production entitlement has risen to approximately 39.8 percent as recoverable costs decline. That is not the same thing as saying Guyana receives 39.8 percent of profit. The 2016 PSA’s profit-oil sharing formula remains relevant after cost recovery. However, the larger question remains unanswered, what is the measurable connection between this extraordinary oil income and a better life for Guyanese?
Billions are being withdrawn from the Natural Resource Fund for national expenditure, without a national development strategy. The legal authority to withdraw those funds is not the end of the argument. The people are entitled to know the development strategy behind the spending. Where is the long-term plan that connects today’s oil revenue to tomorrow’s productive economy? Where is the plan that ensures today’s roads, power systems, water infrastructure, housing, education and health investments strengthen the country rather than simply consume oil revenue?
A Government can spend billions and still lack a National Development Strategy. Development is not the size of the cheque. Development is what remains when the money has been spent.
𝟓. 𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐂 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒
A teacher cannot pay a grocery bill with GDP growth. A nurse cannot pay an electricity bill with an oil-revenue statistic. A public servant cannot build a household around promises of future prosperity.
The purpose of economic growth must be to increase the purchasing power and security of the people who keep this country functioning.
𝟔. 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐘
On the Third Country National Agreement with the United States, you have stated that Guyana retains the authority to accept or reject individuals, that Guyanese authorities conduct their own vetting and that the United States bears the relocation costs while the IOM provides reception and other support. Guyanese hear of these assurances. However, they should be accompanied by the full documentation necessary for Parliament to properly examine the arrangement.
You subsequently met with your own members of the Foreign Relations Sub-Committee to discuss the agreement and other matters, including the ICJ proceedings. Opposition representatives asked instead for an agenda of the meeting, which never came. Parliamentary engagement is meaningful only when Parliament has the information required to ask meaningful questions.
On matters involving migration, national security, sovereignty and Guyana’s international obligations, transparency should not be treated as an inconvenience.
𝟕. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐀
President Ali, your recent statements have unintentionally provided the country with a useful measure of your Government’s performance. You acknowledge that the blackouts are unacceptable. You acknowledge that the electricity system requires major investment. You acknowledge that demand is rising faster than the system can presently accommodate. You acknowledge that the cost of living remains a serious concern. You acknowledge that cash transfers alone cannot solve that problem. You point to an economy growing at extraordinary rates. You point to increasing petroleum revenues. You speak of major development projects and the need for international partnerships. All facts.
However, your government must now be judged against them. If Guyana is becoming richer, why are Guyanese still being asked to sacrifice basic comfort and security? If the economy is expanding so rapidly, why was the electricity system allowed to fall behind demand? If the country has unprecedented oil revenue, why are emergency energy measures still placing additional costs on the Treasury?
If Gas to Energy is the solution, why has its delivery moved so far beyond the original timetable and why is its final cost still a matter of concern? If the project is expected to reduce electricity costs by 50 percent, where is the transparent calculation showing that Guyanese will actually receive that benefit after the cost of the project and the required GPL upgrades are included?
If the cost of living is acknowledged by your Government, why is the answer still so heavily centered on cushioning people rather than increasing their ability to earn and live securely? Not questions of political theatre at all. Instead these are questions of management.
𝟖. 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐀 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐘, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐒
This is ultimately where I believe your Government must answer the country. Guyana has resources, Guyana has oil, Guyana has money, Guyana has a growing economy. What Guyana still needs is a National Development strategy that brings these things together.
A road should connect to an economic opportunity. A power plant should connect to reliable electricity. Oil revenue should create productive capacity. Public investment should create jobs and stronger communities. Economic growth should translate into better wages and greater purchasing power. Also, development should leave behind institutions and infrastructure capable of carrying the country forward after the oil boom.
The working man and woman should not have to hear that Guyana is prosperous while wondering whether there will be electricity when he reaches home. The mother should not hear that GDP is rising while watching the grocery bill rise faster than the family income. The public servant should not hear about billions in national revenue while waiting for meaningful improvement in the conditions under which he or she works. The next generation should not inherit an expensive collection of projects without a clear national strategy tying them together.
President Ali, you have admitted to your Government’s many failures to effectively address these problems. Now comes the harder part. Government must accept responsibility for the decisions that produced them. The answer cannot always be another project, another contract, another temporary solution or another request for the people to sacrifice.
Guyana has reached the point where the question is no longer whether we have the resources to develop. The question is whether we are managing those resources well enough to ensure that development is actually improving the lives of the people. That is the standard by which your Government should now be measured.
Yours truly,
Hon. K. Sharma Solomon
Member of Parliament
