Opposition’s Motion will not hinder Guyana’s development – Min Edghill

Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, MP, said the opposition’s motion to send the gas to shore project to the Special Select Committee is designed to stop Guyana’s progress.

Minister Edghill said the project will produce power for all Guyanese at affordable cost. He noted too, that the 50,000 house lots which will be delivered by government means that 50,000 homes will be using electricity.

Further, the 50,000 jobs which government is committed to delivering will be in areas of agro-processing, manufacturing, information communications technology and tourism.

“The gas to shore project is just one item in a menu of measures for the transformation of Guyana, but it is a very important item because the main cry of the people of Guyana is to see Guyana transform and develop and the hinderance of that has been the cost of development,” Minister Edghill stated.

The minister said the construction of new roads is government opening up new lands for housing and commercial activities. Added to that, the minister said there has already been a lot of private investors, especially in the area of tourism. And with the construction of several international branded hotels, affordable electricity will be in demand.

“What we are talking about here is ensuring that we have reliable, cheap electricity to ensure that we support Guyana’s transformation modernisation and to being about prosperity for all the people.”

“We will not allow this pessimistic, grandstanding, nit-picking, false finding, finding a few opinion makers who are myopic and unable to see they are trapped with tunnel vision. We are not going to allow that to hinder our development,” he said.

He reiterated that the development of the gas to shore project is about the wider developmental objectives of the PPP/C Government. The minister said the motion is just an attempt by the opposition to delay progress and have government do nothing like the opposition did during their tenure.

Minister Edghill said this can be seen with the upgrade of the Sheriff/Mandela Road network, Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion and the Linden to Mabura road among others.

Notwithstanding the call by the opposition to take location and climate change into consideration, Minister Edghill said government has put all systems in place for the protection of the environment.

He noted that the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System is incapable of providing what is required.

The gas-to-energy project is slated to come on stream by late 2024. It is expected to reduce Guyana’s energy sector emissions. The project is also expected cut electricity cost by more than half.