Two sections of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project’s Access Road are nearing completion and the contractor is working to complete the 40 kilometre segment of the roadway before Christmas.
The government cleared the allotment of four multi-million dollar contracts to local companies to complete the roadway after it terminated the contract awarded to Fip Motilall’s Synergy Holdings to build and clear the roadway.
Government engineer Walter Willis, when contacted, could not comment on any aspects of government work and he noted that he would only do so when instructed by the administration.
However, according to a source, work on section three and four of the roadway, which stretch from the Butakari area to the Issano/Potaro Junction, are more than 70% complete. Work there is being undertaken by Toolsie Persaud Quarries.
The source related that the road work is being undertaken in phases; sand is first laid on the surface, loam is then plastered and compacted on the roadway and finally laterite is spread at the surface to cap the roadway. Less than 5 kilometres of work remain for the placement of loam on the road works being undertaken by Toolsie Persaud Quarries and within the next two weeks laterite will be used to cap the road, the source noted.
According to the source, the works began in May this year on that section of the road but the rains have hampered the movement of heavy duty vehicles operating in the area. He noted, however, that within the past month, the Hinterland area has experienced sunshine almost each day, resulting in works being done around the clock to the roadway.
He said that initially there were problems associated with the movement of machinery to various sections of the roadway but he noted that the contractors have coordinated and remedied the problem.
Previously, this newspaper had reported that the works may have been completed by October 31 but the timeline has been revised to December.
The contract for section three of the road is valued $373.2 million; section four, $246.003 million; section five, $182.35 million; and section six, $281.72 million.
Section two of the road is being done by the Ministry of Public Works while Ivor Allen is working on section five of the road, G Bovell Construction on section six and HN Pasha on section seven.
Recently, the US$506 million agreement for the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project and Transmission Line was signed in Xian, China by Sithe Global and China Railway First Group (CRFG) and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh. The signing signals an important milestone in the development of the US$840 million Amaila Falls Hydro project, which is expected to start by mid-2013.
On Monday President Donald Ramotar met Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Luis Alberto Moreno at the office of the Guyana Mission to the United Nations in New York to discuss several key developmental plans including the Amaila Falls Hydropower project.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), Ramotar explained that the discussions were fruitful.
“We had a very good discussion, we spoke about Amaila and the stage where it’s at… you know the President of the IDB himself went to China and he has been very helpful in pushing this project. We all understand that this is a very big project and very important project for Guyana, for the bank, for Sithe Global, for all involved. It’s a very important project so, obviously we all are looking at it and bringing the first stage, I don’t think we are very far away from bringing a conclusion to the first stage, and then we will begin the second stage of construction,” President Ramotar said.
Moreno was also quoted as saying that there is still a lot of work to be done but that they were looking at all possibilities for the project.
