By Tracey Khan – Drakes

The generating set

[www.inewsguyana.com] – The new multi-million dollar Giftland Mall which is nearing completion at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara will generate its own power with its 5MW power plant aimed at ensuring sustainability and reliability.

The power plant, which costs in excess of $US4M, is the company’s largest and most expensive investment, which was done so as to ensure the company’s electricity demands are met in a reliable manner since it will need between 1.5-2 MW of power daily.

The power plant will generate 3.8 MW daily and the company’s Chairman, Roy Beepat is willing to share the excess power to over 6,000 households in the Mall’s environs.

When asked whether this will be done at a cost, Mr. Beepat reminded that his company is community oriented and is willing to work in the interest of Guyanese.

“It would be mainly for whatever the cost is, plus the maintenance as you can imagine something like this is not cheap…our major most expense at the Mall is the actual power and the fuel to run it and the cost of the engineer. So once we could cover those costs we would be happy to supply the government and the people of Guyana,” Beepat told a news conference on Thursday, March 26.

The estimated power demand of the Mall at peak level is around 1.8 MW which means one engine will be running, while the other one will serve as back-up.

The facility is scheduled for a grand opening on Independence Day, May 26. The Mall will not only attract additional business and investments to the East Coast area but will create over 2,000 direct employments.

Beepat boasted of the world class bus terminal that is being constructed at the Mall, “where you have washroom facility, lockers, food concessions, sitting areas, TVs that will keep them occupied, so in other words a civilized bus terminal where people will be able to come and change and use the bus terminal to hub from one point to the other and we anticipate that buses will be coming from Lethem and Linden, from Rosignol and Parika.”

Another major attraction that the Chairman spoke about is their four 20 foot aquariums.

The Mall will be secured by ‘Amalgamated Securities’ which is a high level specialized firm that operates in the Caribbean and is now establishing its operations here in Guyana.

The parking facility has the capacity to house over 500 cars in addition to 150 for the company’s staff, plus additional parking for delivery vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Company signed a deal with the popular brand – Levi’s – which will be housed at the store. Levi country representative, Crystal Ramdeo explained that this will be the first “standalone concept store” in the Caribbean.

“… and it is happening right here in Guyana so we’re very proud to be a part of that. Levi’s has done their research and has expressed confidence in the success of this venture.”