before

Privileges Committee

the Privileges Committee, which is in charge of disciplining Members of Parliament (MP). Only last year, eight APNU/AFC MPs were brought before the Privileges Committee for disrupting a December 29, 2021 sitting of the National Assembly and grabbing the mace. All eight of them were suspended from the National Assembly.

During the course of last week’s examination of the budget estimates, Patterson claimed that the Norwegians informed the former APNU/ AFC government in 2015 that the cost of electricity from AFHP would be US 25 cents per kilowatt. He also claimed that this cost was subsequently revised to US 30 cents per kilowatt, taking into account the overall cost of the project.

The revival of the 165-megawatt AFHP was one of the promises made by the PPP/C in its manifesto. The project was initiated under the previous PPP/C Administration, but was scrapped by the coali- tion Administration which had controlled the National Assembly by a one-seat Opposition majority.

Construction on the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) was supposed to start last year, as Government continues to ramp up spending on renewable energy projects as well as upgrades to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) infrastructure. The expected completion date was to be 2027.

“(They said) we were taking US$2 billion of debt to the treasury. When there was zero debt to the treasury. There was a $750 million of contingent liability, where we are guaranteeing the payment. But zero debt because it is a BOOT operation, we were buying power. A whole range of issues,” Jagdeo also said.

The parliamentary Opposition is no stranger to being taken before