$163M to clear electricity bill left by Dept. of Citizenship

A whopping $163M has been allocated in the 2021 National Budget under the Office of the President to clear an electricity bill left by the Department of Citizenship under the previous APNU+AFC Coalition government.

Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs, Gail Teixeira, reminded that the building utilized by the Department was the Stephen Campbell House located at Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Bourda, Georgetown.

She said for the five years that the APNU+AFC was in power, the Guyana Power and Light received no monies for electricity.

“You are lucky to have had electricity without paying,” she told the National Assembly on Tuesday during the consideration of the 2021 budget estimates.

Teixeira also announced additional sums for upgrades to the building.

The upgrade would include the construction of a garage and the concreting of the compound.

On February 6, 2020, former President David Granger commissioned the building as the Stephen Campbell House which at the time was home of the Department of Citizenship, Ministry of the Presidency.

Stephen Campbell was a pioneer of Indigenous peoples’ rights, particularly land rights.

Annually, Guyana celebrates Stephen Campbell’s achievements as part of Indigenous Heritage month. Stephen Joseph Campbell was born in Moruca, in the Barima-Waini (Region One) on December 26, 1897.