MONEY, MONEY EVERYWHERE AND WE GOING NOWHERE

MONEY, MONEY EVERYWHERE AND WE GOING NOWHERE

OPINION BY: Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine

While the Guyanese populace is presently consumed with President Ali’s multi-billion-dollar farm there are more sinister lumps of taxpayers’ money going down the drain. Guyana lacks the ability through the legislative process to investigate any fraud surrounding this 150 acres mega project while PPP apparatchicks continue to defend this highly questionable acquisition. Of course, President Ali is no stranger to land giveaways, as he was slapped with 19 counts of land fraud in 2015. 

The Gas to Energy (GTE) project, now 2 years overdue is facing colossal engineering problems as on- site tests reveal that the concrete turbine foundation is substandard. And the project costs keep shooting North from an initial US $750 million to over US$2 billion. The national airport, under renovation for the past 15 years, has been allocated more money-a whopping 3.2 billion dollars.

The electricity sector is in a messy scramble to upkeep an expired contract with the Turkish Karpowership generators. This Berbice- stationed ship was contracted in 2024 at 7.6 cents a unit; it’s 9.5 today after ‘negotiations’- a hike of 25 % for the same 36 megawatts, off the same vessel that hasn’t moved from Everton in two years.  This translates to US$5.8 million more a year, about G$3.4 million more a day on a ship with a new contract locked in for two more years. Would it not be wise to buy our own generator which the country could keep as back-up power supply?

Now to the Health sector. The government hired the Austrian firm VAMED Engineering to design and build two major state-of-the-art hospitals:

1. The Guyana Pediatric and Maternal Hospital (Ogle, East Coast Demerara): A massive 5-story specialty hospital with 256 beds designed specifically for mothers and children. 

The cost: €149 Million ($33.5 Billion GYD).

2. The New Amsterdam Hospital Campus (Region 6): A modern regional hospital with a cardiac unit, psychiatric wing, and digital training facilities. 

The cost: €150 Million ($33.7 Billion GYD).

On June 2, 2026, the Ministry of Health officially told VAMED it intended to fire them from both projects.

On July 16, 2026, VAMED fired back by filing a lawsuit in international arbitration, demanding €45.5 Million ($10 Billion GYD) that they claim the One Guyana government (on your behalf) has refused to pay.

The argument boils down to a classic “chicken-and-egg” problem:

What the One Guyana government says: VAMED is way behind schedule, missed its deadlines, didn’t bring in enough workers, and hasn’t delivered the high-tech medical equipment it promised. President Ali and the Health Ministry say they gave VAMED several chances , but the pace was just too slow to accept.

What VAMED says: VAMED claims it had to slow down because the Government stopped paying them in May 2025. They argue that no contractor can build a multi-billion-dollar hospital for over a year entirely out of their own pocket. In the meantime, Guyanese continue to spend colossal sums at private hospitals, bypassing the state owned and poorly run facilities.

Finally, it is amazing ,the lengths to which this government goes to deny important matters.  When it is unable to deny, it deflects.  However, when efforts at deflecting come to naught, it is time for minimization to takeover. In fact, less than 24 hours after Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat flatly denied reports of a pipeline rupture to Demerara Waves, two state regulatory bodies issued a joint statement admitting to a pipeline “anomaly”.

In any modern democracy, public confidence is not built on personal assurances from political allies so it is not surprising that the chief lawman has come to the defense of the Uitvlugt University graduate stating that loans were obtained to construct the poultry and lack belly farm. This project reeks of use of state equipment, as evidenced with Pradoville 2, yet the Chatree stamps his approval with the  reference to there being “no law” preventing a President from owning a business is equally unconvincing.

Legality and accountability are not the same thing. Many actions can be perfectly legal while still raising serious questions about ethics, transparency, conflicts of interest. Now the nation awaits the unlimited ex-president pension and expenses.

Meanwhile, after 5 years, with black belly Ali possessing 1500 house lots (1 acre = 8   (50X100) house lots, I am still waiting for my house lot.