APNU to get first-hand look at Amaila Falls Road on Saturday

By Gary Eleazar, June 19, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source

A file photo of a section of the Amaila Falls Road under construction

Government has agreed, after numerous requests, to have members of the 10-party coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), take a first-hand look at the current state of the Amaila Falls Road. The move will essentially be the first time any independent assessment of the road will be undertaken, apart from those of government affiliates.

This was confirmed yesterday by Shadow Minister with responsibility for Public Works, Joseph Harmon, who during a brief interview with this publication yesterday said that after repeated requests by the opposition, government has agreed for a four-member team from APNU to visit the work site. The group will travel to the location on Saturday.

The APNU member told Kaieteur News that the coalition harbours numerous reservations regarding the actual cost of the road. He said that Makeswhar ‘Fip’ Motilall of Synergy Holdings Inc had initially won a contract to complete the Amaila Falls Road for US$15.4M.

Following several missed deadlines and a failure to secure a performance bond, government had terminated his contract, but only after several million US dollars had been handed over.

Harmon said that to date the true cost of completing the road is yet to be known and given the missed deadlines, despite awarding new contracts, the price could potentially still increase.

He said that based on information provided to APNU, there is still a significant amount of work to be done on the road.

According to Harmon, APNU has been informed that the major crossing to be situated over the Kuribrong River is still at its design phase. He drew reference to the fact that as the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) continues due diligence for its equity in the project, the completion of the road remains a key factor.

Harmon said that while a varying amount of information has been supplied over time regarding the amount spent on the road, APNU is still to have a clear picture, on specifically what the final cost will be.

Meanwhile, commenting on information recently released to APNU by government regarding the Power Purchase Agreement between the Guyana Power and Light Inc. and Amaila Hydro Inc, Harmon said that while the information was received under a confidentiality agreement its team of experts are currently analysing the data. This he said is necessary before the party can make any informed decisions or pronouncements on the agreement that has been inked.

This past week, government announced that it will be moving to the National Assembly to seek to put in place guarantees that GPL will be able to make payments for the purchase of power under the agreement from the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Facility.

Government is looking to increase the limit on total guarantees that can be issued under the Guarantee of Loans (Public Corporations and Companies) Act.

The new proposed limit is $150B (US$750M) and according to the Ministry of Finance, the proposed increase in the guarantee limit, follows on the commitment to the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project.

Under the Power Purchase Agreement, GPL commits to purchase the power from Amaila for an average annual capacity payment.