Ee from Guyana, attached and committed to our territory, we take our responsibilities at a key moment for the future of our region. We say it bluntly: the West Guyana power station is essential to meet the energy needs of our territory, in particular the more than 50,000 inhabitants of West Guyana.
After years of consultation, an agreement was validated by all the stakeholders, without any objection on its location or on its urgent and essential character. However, a few months ago, the representatives of the Village Prospérité, neighbor of the project, unilaterally decided to reconsider this commitment.
But the time has come to make the project a reality. This plant is at the forefront of environmental innovation. It does not generate greenhouse gases, fine particles, noise or smoke; it contributes to the energy independence of Guyana and to its economic development.
A bad signal for the development of Guyana
Its location, determined in close consultation with the authorities and all the local stakeholders, is the only one that meets all the technical and environmental criteria of the town planning rules. It allows a connection to the network guaranteeing the supply of electricity to the populations of western French Guiana.
The project is located on land rented from the National Forestry Office (ONF), designed to limit its footprint in order to preserve the secondary forest and allow the free passage of animals and hunters. As for the photovoltaic panels, they are located at the top of the hills, so as to preserve biodiversity in the lowlands.
To move, to postpone again, to retreat, would be to bury the project. This would send the worst signals for our territory, its attractiveness and its development. Our territory faces an urgent need for investment and suffers from a historical and chronic deficit of essential infrastructure.
The status quo would condemn us to underdevelopment
The instability and fragility of Guyana’s energy network is a major obstacle to its development, even though we greatly need it. Power cuts (more than 141 in 2022), constant risks of blackout threaten the safety of our fellow citizens, serenity and public health.
The situation is known to everyone, in Cayenne as in Paris. The status quo would condemn us to downgrading, underdevelopment and poverty. Our population, our region, our companies are not second class. They have a right to progress, prosperity and security. The time is no longer for simple observation but for action, resolute and effective, for our future.
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