–President Ali says

PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali on Wednesday announced that the government intends to work on creating legislation which will ensure Guyana is ready to have data centres.

A data centre is defined as a structure; a specific area inside a structure, or a collection of structures used to house computer systems and related equipment such as telecommunications and storage systems.

Addressing a trade delegation from the UK, President Ali said Guyana has been aggressively pursuing the establishment of call centres, and will also pursue the establishment of data centres locally.

For data centres, the President said that it is part of the technology platform that the government is seeking to venture into, and as such, legislation is going to be passed for it.

“I told the AG (Attorney-General) that before the end of this year, we must have legislation in the Parliament for data centres,” the President said.

The delegation was told that Guyana, by having legislation in place, would create opportunities for businesses in this field.

He said: “Guyana having its own data centre legislation; that’s a massive business opportunity.”

Further, the Head of State said that once power and energy are reliable, such an investment would be justified, as data centres cannot exist in an environment where there isn’t reliable electricity.

In Guyana’s context, “energy security”, as said previously by President Ali, will be driven by an energy mix that will see solar, wind, ‘hydro’ and natural gas being utilised to make this nation the energy capital of the region.

The integration of those energy sources will provide Guyana with 400 megawatts of newly-installed power. At the moment, the national grid is providing 120 megawatts of electricity, an amount which is equal to the consumer demand of 117-120 megawatts of power.

Based on what the President has outlined, the potential “world-class” energy mix will not just increase Guyana’s energy capacity, but will also significantly reduce the cost of electricity for households and businesses.

The overarching aim of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government is to reduce the overall cost of energy by 50 per cent through this energy mix.