The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) yesterday called on the government to review its proposed state-owned water bottling plant, warning that the venture could compete with existing local manufacturers, discourage private investment and distract the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) from its primary mandate.
The call follows the National Assembly’s approval last month of $496.3 million for GWI to establish the facility.
In a statement, the GMSA urged the government to undertake further consultations with local bottled-water manufacturers and other stakeholders before proceeding.
The association said several of its members have invested substantial capital, established distribution networks and created jobs in the bottled-water industry over many years.
“Any initiative by the state should be structured to strengthen, not to compete with or undermine, that existing private investment,” it said. Banks DIH and DDL are two of the major producers of bottled water locally.
The GMSA said that earlier this year it and local bottled-water manufacturers met Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar and officials of GWI to discuss opportunities and challenges facing the industry.
During that engagement, the association said, it welcomed the government’s aim of achieving 100% local production of bottled water, viewing this as an opportunity to strengthen manufacturing, create employment and improve the country’s economic resilience.
It maintained, however, that President Irfaan Ali’s announcement in February had called for close cooperation between the government and private sector, including shared production infrastructure such as bottle manufacturing, to lower costs across the industry.
According to the GMSA, the proposal should therefore be fashioned as a partnership that lowers costs and expands production capacity across the sector, rather than as “a taxpayer-funded competitor to existing private industry”.
“The Association is concerned that direct state participation in a market already served by local manufacturers could discourage future private investment, create uncertainty for businesses that have committed substantial capital to the sector, and potentially undermine the Government’s broader agenda of promoting private sector-led growth and industrial development,” the statement said.
The association also said GWI’s core responsibility must remain the delivery of safe and reliable potable water to every household.
It argued that any commercial expansion should supplement that mandate and not distract from it.
The GMSA said it was prepared to engage GWI and the ministry on behalf of its members to help structure the project in a way that serves consumers while protecting local private-sector investment.
The concerns echo those raised by APNU parliamentarian Ganesh Mahipaul, who recently told Kiskadee Watch that his party was not rejecting the concept of a state-owned water bottling plant in principle but required the government to demonstrate a clear public benefit.
Mahipaul said the administration should disclose a detailed business case covering the proposed plant’s location, production capacity, capital and operating costs, break-even projections, pricing structure, distribution network, procurement arrangements, implementation timetable, environmental approvals and governance mechanisms.
He also questioned whether the expenditure should have been prioritised for water-treatment plants, pipelines and other infrastructure amid continuing complaints about poor water quality, unreliable service and the absence of distribution systems in some communities.
Mahipaul said the government must also explain how the plant would avoid unfairly competing with established local producers and maintained that providing households with a safe and consistent supply of potable water should remain the priority.
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