PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, in his recent address to key stakeholders, said the construction of the gas-to-energy project transcends the provision of energy, and is linked to other benefits to the Guyanese people.

According to President Ali, this project is national and transformational in nature, one that cuts across the various sectors of the economy. It is directly linked to poverty reduction, opening up of new opportunities and the creation of new growth poles and developmental hubs. In short, it is one of those projects that is multi-dimensional in nature and which will bring substantial benefits to Guyanese.

In a significant way, the provision of cheaper energy will change the growth dynamics of the economy and will accelerate the pace and momentum of the country’s socio-economic and cultural development.
It is a fact that the cost of energy in Guyana is comparatively high by regional standards due to our dependence on imported fossil fuel, the cost of which has now hit the roof. Even though the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration has completely lifted the excise tax on fuel, the price still remains high due mainly to the war in Ukraine.

The fact is that the cost of energy has always been a limiting factor in the country’s competitiveness. Now that the country is about to have a new source of energy in the form of gas, it will, most certainly, impact big on the quality of life of the Guyanese people.

For one thing, the cost of energy is expected to be cut by half. This facility could save the country billions of dollars per month from electricity costs and the cost of cooking gas.
As noted by President Ali, approximately 220,000 households are currently on the national power grid. With the power company earning approximately $40 billion in revenue, that amount is likely to be reduced by half when the project comes on stream in another few years. In the process, this will return almost $20 billion to the pockets of Guyanese consumers.

That money could then be used to enhance consumer spending and, ultimately, result in a much bigger basket of goods and services to consumers.
All of this is good news, but it is much more than a case of putting more money in the pockets of Guyanese consumers. The project, as observed by President Ali, fits nicely into a much broader seven-pillar transformational agenda which the PPP/C administration is pursuing. These include infrastructural development, technology, service delivery, energy security, food security and mental transformation.

This latter development pillar, namely mental transformation, according to President Ali, is particularly important in the context of a rapidly-changing Guyana where the scale and magnitude of transformation in our society is completely different from the way we think.

From a business perspective, the scale is different from what we have imagined. The mental transformation talks about critical thinking.
These are indeed deeply profound and forward thinking on the part of President Ali. It is incumbent on all Guyanese to undergo a “mind-set change”, if the full benefits of the country’s transformational agenda are to be optimally realised. What is required is the development of a critical mass of High-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) to drive the development process to new and higher levels.

Put in a different way, we have, as a society, to rise above small and narrow-minded thinking which, in essence, sees only threats in every new opportunity. There is a tendency, especially among those in the political opposition to, as it were, “throw away the baby with the bathwater.”

This is particularly so as they refer to the oil-and-gas sector. And while being critical is not altogether a bad thing, being critical just for the sake of seeking to score political points could be counter-productive and destructive to the country’s development.

Guyana’s developmental trajectory is done within the framework of the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which is internationally-acclaimed as a developmental model for emerging economies.

President Ali has certainly pointed the way forward for Guyana with his seven-pillar transformational agenda which essentially is aimed at enhancing the material and spiritual lives of the Guyanese people. Those, along with his “One Guyana” vision, provide a mechanism to bring about a new Guyana where peace, social harmony and economic prosperity are the defining characteristics.