THE Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) is extremely important in the development of Guyana’s agro-processing industry, says President Donald Ramotar.

The President was at the time addressing a gathering at the construction site of the new Qualfon Contact Centre Campus at Providence, East Bank of Demerara Wednesday.
He noted that Guyana has great potential in agro-processing but the industry is hindered by the unavailability of cheap energy and so it is extremely important for the AFHP to be brought to fruition.
The project has been threatened after Sithe Global, a major investor, withdrew citing the need for national consensus, following the non-support of the major opposition party, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), for the amendments to the Hydroelectric Act and a motion to increase the debt ceiling on external loans, both of which were critical to the AFHP.
To illustrate his point, Ramotar told a story of someone who had recently bought peanut punch in Guyana and realised that the product was made by Pinehill in Barbados for Banks DIH in Guyana. The President further noted that all the peanut punch contains is milk, peanuts and sugar, which can be readily available in Guyana.
“We can flood Barbados with milk from the Mahaicony alone, we can have peanuts in the Rupununi, in the North West District, in many parts of our country; sugar, even though struggling, we have enough to put in peanut punch. So why is it that we make peanut punch in Barbados for Guyana’s market? It is simply because energy here is too expensive,” he asserted.
At a People’s Progressive Party (PPP) media briefing on Monday last, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh had told a story of packaged plantain chips imported into Guyana from Costa Rica.
He said that he had recently asked someone to buy him some plantain chips, and they came back with chips packaged in a “fancy” green air-filled foil bag. He further related that upon checking, he realised the product was made in Costa Rica and not Guyana.
The minister added that all that was used to make the plantain chips was plantains, oil and salt, all of which are available in Guyana. In that context, he too highlighted the need for cheap energy in Guyana.
“Imagine it was cost effective and competitive to bring plantain chips in an air-filled foil-wrapped package from Costa Rica to Guyana…the plantains can’t be cheaper, the oil can’t be cheaper, the salt can’t be cheaper, the labour can’t be cheaper. The one factor that makes it viable to bring plantain chips from Costa Rica to Guyana is the cost of power,” he stressed.
He added that the AFHP could have changed the lives of every plantain farmer who cannot sell his plantains because plantain chips are being imported from Costa Rica.
Meanwhile, President Ramotar stressed that this issue has to be fixed, if the agriculture sector in Guyana is to be diversified, and once again emphasised that the government is going to continue to pursue the hydropower project.
He said that this project is extremely important for development in Guyana. The President added that it is especially important for the creation of jobs in the society, noting that evidence has shown that there is a spurt of development anywhere in the world where there is cheap energy.