HGP Nightly News – APNU Member of Parliament Sharma Solomon is raising fresh concerns about the Government’s handling of the Gas-to-Energy project, arguing that what was once presented as a transformative answer to Guyana’s electricity problems is now exposing deeper weaknesses in planning, execution and oversight.
Speaking at a press conference, Solomon described the project as a “national warning sign,” saying the issues now surrounding it go well beyond one major infrastructure development. In his view, the project reflects a broader pattern in which large national initiatives are announced with great promise, but later run into delays, rising costs and questions about whether the groundwork was properly done from the start.
Solomon pointed to the project’s growing price tag as one of the clearest signs of trouble. He said the estimated cost has now climbed to about US$2 billion, while completion has been pushed back beyond earlier timelines. For him, those developments suggest not just normal project adjustments, but what he called “weak preparation, weak execution, [and] poor oversight.”
The opposition parliamentarian also linked the controversy directly to the everyday reality still being faced by consumers. He noted that despite the Gas-to-Energy project being promoted as a key intervention to reduce electricity costs and improve reliability, blackouts continue and the wider power challenges remain unresolved. According to Solomon, that has created a growing disconnect between what the project was sold as and what Guyanese are still experiencing on the ground.
He argued that one of the central problems is that the project was framed almost as a complete answer to the country’s electricity problems, even though major weaknesses in transmission and distribution were never fully addressed. In his view, that means the Government pushed a headline solution without first resolving the wider system constraints that continue to affect power delivery across the country.
Solomon also said there is now a clear atmosphere of uncertainty around the project, with repeated assurances from officials failing to fully match the realities being seen by the public. He suggested that this has weakened public confidence and made it harder for citizens to judge exactly what the project will ultimately deliver, when it will be completed, and at what final cost.
More broadly, Solomon contended that the Gas-to-Energy project is part of a wider governance problem in which major undertakings are rolled out before there is enough planning, preparation and technical clarity. He called for full transparency on the project’s costs, timelines and expected benefits, arguing that the public has a right to know exactly how national resources are being used and what outcomes can realistically be expected.
He also urged that future large-scale projects be grounded in proper feasibility studies and stronger accountability mechanisms, so that public money is tied to measurable results rather than shifting promises. For Solomon, the Gas-to-Energy project is no longer just about electricity. It has become, in his words, a warning about how Guyana manages its biggest and most expensive development plans.
