AS he continues to vent his disbelief that there are some people in society who would attempt to cripple big investment programmes such as the Amaila Falls Hydro Project, His Excellency President Donald Ramotar yesterday reassured residents of West Coast Berbice that his administration was committed to ensuring the project come to fruition.

President Donald Ramotar

In response to a question from a resident in respect to statements made by the head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, that Amaila is dead, as quoted in a section of the media, President Ramotar clarified that while “the deal with Sithe Global is dead, Amaila Falls Hydro Project is not dead.”
Consistent with his previous statements and pronouncements on the Amaila Falls Hydro Project, the President said that the hallmark of the hydro project is that every single Guyanese stands to benefit, be it directly or indirectly.

He reassured residents of the community that the money being used for the project is not taxpayers’ money, but rather that of investors. He said, however, that the misinformation being fed to the public is that the project would be a burden on the coffers and on taxpayers.

He reminded his audience, and stated for the benefit of those who were not aware, that the Government going into a BOAT agreement (Build, Operate And Transfer) would have seen Guyana being the sole owners of the Hydro Power Plant in years to come.

The economic benefit to the nation, the President said, would be tremendous. He pointed to the investments as being zero, since the money already being used to subsidise GPL would have been the same money used to purchase power for GPL from the project. The fuel import bill would have also been brought down, he added.
He also noted that the AFC’s support for the project, while ‘too little too late’, was also “out of shame”.