Category: Letters to the editor

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Response to Gouveia

Dear Editor,

Captain Gouveia’s widely publicised open letter on Amaila in the dailies juxtaposes extracts from statements by Drs. Clive Thomas and Anand Goolsarran and the two signatories to this letter on the one hand, and statements made by the Government on the same or similar issue on the other. The Captain then requests the four of us to answer four critical questions. Ignoring the contribution to the debate by such committed Guyanese as Janette Bulkan, Alfred Bhulai, Tarron Khemraj and Sasenarine Singh, Carl Greenidge, Lincoln Lewis, Charles Sohan and M. Ali, GHK Lall and others, Capt. Gouveia sees the four as “the ones who killed the project”.

Capt. Gouveia did not invite the Government of Guyana to explain its conflicting claims about the virtues of the project or challenge it for underplaying the hydrological, geotechnical and exchange risks associated with the project. One must remember that the Government has so far not tabled in the National Assembly any of the critical documents for the project or sought the Assembly’s approval. Presented by the Government were two peripheral pieces to meet the requirement of a foreign agency. Were it not for that demand, the Government would not have come to the National Assembly and the project could have gone the way of the Marriot and slid away quietly and successfully like the camoudie.

For the benefit of readers, we address the issues under five headings: debt, tariffs, subsidies, fuel and savings, and cost. We now address those issues, make a brief conclusion and raise some questions to Capt. Gouveia.
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Ron Webster acquired 85.31% stake in CCI for G$300,000 – and no money paid

A review by Business Page of Sunday Stabroek of May 5, 2013 of the annual reports and financial statements of three companies, including Caribbean Container Inc. (CCI), about which three concerns were raised, drew a sharp response from Mr Ronald Webster, that company’s Chairman and Managing Director in respect of one of those concerns which dealt with his controlling interest in CCI. It was Mr. Webster’s view that the column ignored certain statements in CCI’s annual reports for the years 2005 through to 2012.

So what did Business Page ignore? Here are five assertions in the reports by Mr. Webster as the company’s Managing Director and by the Board of which he is Chairman, each followed by the facts gleaned from publicly held records. I add some comments as seem appropriate.

Continue reading “Ron Webster acquired 85.31% stake in CCI for G$300,000 – and no money paid”

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There was no ‘sleight of hand’ involved in the fixing of the national minimum wage

Your editorial ‘Poverty and the minimum wage’ (SN, June 19) falls short of the usually high standard that makes a Stabroek News editorial such a pleasure to read and a work of considerable authority. It is incorrect to apply the estimated unemployment rate to the total number of every woman, man and child to arrive at the number of unemployed persons in the country. In fact, in unemployment statistics only the active workforce is considered.

A huge problem I have with the editorial is your unsupported description of the fixing of a national minimum wage for workers in every sector of the economy as a “sleight of hand.” The only suggestion you offer is that the government is seeking to divest itself of any responsibility to offer welfare/public assistance to some 31,000 who will move out of the abject poverty group. Where is the evidence of the percentage of persons in the abject poverty group who now receive such assistance, or is this mere speculation? And second, of any strict means test being applied in the decision on the payment of public assistance? In fact, in the case of old age pensions, the government does not apply the means test required by the Old Age Pensions Act which I have argued it should, since it causes pensions to be paid to those not legally entitled, at the expense of those really in need.

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GPL has to be accountable, transparent and efficient

I refer to the letter ‘Deferred Tax was not included in GPL’s rate computation’ (SN, June 13) written by Mr Nizam Ali of Nizam Ali & Company, the firm which audited the 2012 financial statements of Guyana Power and Light and which signed the Final Return Certificate (FRC) for GPL’s proposed tariff increase of 26.7%.

Perhaps Mr Ali did not see press release No 33 issued by GPL and dated May 8, 2013, so I quote for his benefit the last sentence of paragraph 2 of the release which states:

“The GPL Final Return Certificate (FRC) was accompanied by a Notice of Compliance issued by an independent firm of accountants and GPL’s 2012 audited accounts that show GPL losing $7.6 billion in 2012” (emphasis mine).

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GPL cannot be allowed to continue operating with a failed model and incompetent management

On or around April 22 last, the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) announced it was seeking a 17% tariff increase because of the $5.2 billion budget cut by the National Assembly. Yet only three weeks later, on May 15, the government-owned utility submitted to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) what is called a Final Return Certificate (FRC) which it claims allows it to increase tariffs by an even higher percentage – 26.7% – effective May, 2013. According to a statement issued by GPL last Saturday, “the GPL Board is actively engaged in planning its implementation.”

According to the GPL, the increase is calculated in accordance with the 1999 Electricity Sector Reform Act (ESRA) and a Licence that allowed the previous private investor to increase (or decrease) its tariffs, using an internationally acceptable methodology based on a rate of return. According to the company, the FRC was accompanied by a Notice of Compliance issued by an unnamed independent firm of Accountants and GPL’s 2012 audited accounts which show GPL losing $7.6 billion in 2012.

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