Prime Ministerial Candidate for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Executive Member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Ganesh Mahipaul, has raised serious concerns over conflicting accounts on the consultancy services for the $28.7 billion transmission and distribution component of the Gas-to-Energy project.
Speaking on the matter, Mahipaul referenced statements made during the 104th Sitting of the 12th Parliament on Friday, May 23, 2025. At that session, Prime Minister Mark Phillips addressed the National Assembly on the allocation of $28.7 billion under the line-item Power Generation (Gas-to-Energy Project). According to Mahipaul, the Prime Minister stated clearly that the funds were earmarked for enhancing the transmission and distribution system and that three contracts were signed with Power China and Kalpataru for works spanning Regions Four, Five, and Six. The Prime Minister also disclosed that those contracts were signed on April 4, 2025.
Mahipaul noted that in response to a question from former MP Volda Lawrence about consultancy services tied to the project, Prime Minister Phillips stated that the consultancy contract had been awarded to Method4, a Canadian company, at a cost of US$7 million.
However, Mahipaul drew attention to what he called a major contradiction. “Now fast forward to recent public statements by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who is now vigourously defending InterEnergy Group, a completely different entity, as the consultancy firm on the same transmission and distribution project. This contradiction strikes at the very heart of truth and transparency,” he stated.
In light of the conflicting claims, Mahipaul posed several questions: “Who is lying? Jagdeo or Phillips? What happened to Method4? Where did InterEnergy Group come from? Were two consultancy contracts awarded for the same work? Or is one story the truth and the other a carefully concocted deception?”
He argued that the matter is more than a “minor discrepancy” and described it as “a blatant exposure of the lies and confusion that plague the PPP/C regime.”
“One government, two top-ranking officials, two completely different stories. Only one can be true, if either is,” Mahipaul said.
He further cautioned that the public must not be misled. “This $28.7 billion project is not play money. It is your tax dollars, it is our oil revenues, and it is the future of this country’s energy security. When billions are being spent, and the Government can’t even get its story straight, alarm bells must ring.”
Concluding his statement, Mahipaul declared, “What we are witnessing is not transparency, it is deception in high definition. It is a corrupt, confused, and chaotic regime speaking from both sides of its mouth. Today, the PPP/C stands exposed, not just for its lies, but for its blatant disrespect to the intelligence of the Guyanese people.”
There has been no official clarification to date on the apparent discrepancy between the statements made by Prime Minister Phillips and Vice President Jagdeo.
Mahipaul said that the APNU is demanding the following:
- Immediate clarity on the status of the consultancy contract. Was it awarded to Method4 or InterEnergy Group, or both?
2. Full disclosure of all consultancy agreements related to the Gas-to-Energy transmission and distribution components.
“The PPP/C cannot be allowed to play political football with billions of taxpayers’ dollars while pretending to care about accountability. The only way to end the lies, the contradictions, and the corruption is to vote them out come September 1, 2025. The PPP/C is lying. The question is how many more lies have they told that we haven’t uncovered yet?” he concluded.
