Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson during the recent sitting of the National Assembly in response to Opposition concerns regarding Government’s steps to unleashing the potential of the Amaila Falls Project, said the “previous administration left us with this one silver bullet, Amaila and beyond that there is no day, there is no night, there is no in between, there is nothing.”
According to the Minister, everything including the expansion programme for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. was solely geared to collect the power from the Amaila Project.
He accused the PPP/C Administration of failing to implement a power plan for Essequibo and Bartica. On that note, the Minister informed the House that engines have been procured for Bartica and Anna Regina. Three of these engines for Anna Regina would be installed by March the Minister committed with some 5.5 megawatts of solar power to be supplied. Patterson said, “the dark days are over, so Anna Regina would be bright.”
The Public Infrastructure Minister said the grid code is being implemented with in excess of 1.5 megawatts. According to him several companies that self-generate have approached the Government with proposals to sell their excess power to the GPL. Patterson said similar offers were made to the previous Government, who refused and had a strict policy against it.
Meantime, following a motion brought to the House by the PPP/C called for Government to make public, without delay a long-term strategy for the energy sector through a national consultative process. To This Minister Patterson said there is a strategy and it will be made public soon.
