– Sankies says many questions remain
unanswered about company’s track record
Synergy Holdings Inc continues to face scrutiny about its capacity to build the Amaila Falls access roads even as the company has received the requisite permission from the Ministry of Public Works to commence the work.
Senior Engineer in the Public Works Ministry Walter Willis said that the Construction notice to proceed was issued to Synergy Holdings Inc on October 5, paving the way for them to start Sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the project. Willis said that the company’s work force has already been mobilized and that equipment is presently being transported to the project site.
The issuance of the construction notice to proceed will finally allow the project to begin, more than 3 months after the most recent deadline given.
Much controversy has surrounded the award of the US$15.4 million contract to Makeshwar Fip Motilall’s Synergy Holdings Inc to build the access roads to the proposed site for the Amaila Hydropower plant. Questions have been raised specifically about the company’s road building experience and its capacity to undertake a project with the difficulties such as this one. When asked about this, Willis declined to comment even though President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that this information would be made public.
Recently, Motilall during a recent interview with public relations executive Cathy Hughes said that his company is the “most qualified” to build the Amaila access road because it has over seven years of road building experience along with intimate knowledge of the terrain at the project site.
Motilall said that his company has significant road building experience in Florida and Georgia in private developments. “We’ve been building roads for 7 years now in Florida and Georgia,” he said. Synergy Holdings, Motilall said, had developed Timberland Estates in Georgia which is 500 acres with about 13 miles of roads within the project, and Cabbage Woods Ranges in Central Florida where it built 9 miles of roads.
“What we’re building here is no different from that it’s just a bit larger in size. And it’s one road versus multiple factions,” he said.
In response to a question about Synergy’s experience in building in such difficult terrain, Motilall contended that his company had gained significant experiences in Florida and Georgia having to build in forested areas. “People in the road building process would understand that it is not that difficult or different. The biggest difficulty is clearing the trees, for example in the Timberland Estates, we cleared virgin forests …it was cleared in a very similar way to what we have to clear here.” He said that the area in which the estate was built has as much clay, sand, and mud as much as Guyana has.
“The problem with this…is more logistics. But once you clear the forests and vegetation. Those in the road building business would know it is basically the same thing, you’re dealing with dirt and clay, different varieties and you just have to build it and put the drainage in,” he added.
Motilall opined that his company is “the most qualified” to build the road. “Unlike what most people would like to believe. I think we’re the most qualified from the standpoint that we know the terrain, I believe better than anybody on this. I’ve been working on the hydro project for over 12 years, so I’ve traversed this area quite a bit, both myself and my team,” he said.
Melvin Sankies, a former president of the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE), in an invited comment, told this newspaper that there still remains a lot of doubt over Motilall’s ability to build the road especially in a deeply forested area.
“Motilall gets on TV and says he has built these roads, but where is the evidence? He has to show it,” Sankies said. “When did he build these roads? Where did he build them? What was the cost? What was the terrain like? What are the current conditions of the road? All this we need to know.”
The contract awarded to Synergy is for “the upgrading of approximately 85 km of existing roadway, the design and construction of approximately 110 km of virgin roadway, the design and construction of two new pontoon crossings at the Essequibo and Kuribrong rivers.” The fourth part of the project is for the clearing of a pathway alongside the roadways to allow for the installation of approximately 65 km of transmission lines.
Synergy’s website http://synergyholdings.net despite listing several of its developments is silent on the company’s road building experience. The developments listed on the website are Timberland Estates, Great Oaks Estate, Cabbage Woods Ranches, Country Farm Estates and Orange Grove Estates.
“The access road has to be a good road. It has to be designed properly,” Sankies insisted. According to him, if this is not done, this road may be yet another in the growing list of infrastructure being built that is unable to last.