The expert panel commissioned to evaluate the Amaila Falls Hydropower project is now finalising its preliminary report but no date has been set for the release of the final report, Head of the panel Erik Helland-Hansen says.
Helland-Hansen, responding to an email sent to him by this newspaper, said that the panel is under contract with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Amaila Falls Hydro Inc to act as professional impartial advisors, according to the terms of reference established for the work.
“We will provide our clients with two reports, the first one a ‘Preliminary Report,’ being finalised these days, and a ‘Final Report’ that is not yet scheduled,” he said. “Our professional assessments will be stated in these reports, which will eventually be made public,” Helland-Hansen said. He, however, declined to disclose further information about the project.
Helland-Hansen, in late March, was quoted in the Norwegian journal, Development Today as saying that the bank had questioned the entire concept. “The explanations so far have not been sufficient,” he was quoted as saying. At that time, he had reportedly said that he could not talk much on the project because of his position.
However, these statements were reportedly withdrawn in a subsequent interview that Helland-Hansen had with the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. He reportedly expressed regret over his statements and said: “It’s not really how I meant it. I was a little excited over the quote, and I should not have talked. The panel has not come to a final conclusion.”
According to the information on the IDB’s website, the panel of experts was established to “provide a review of, and guidance on, the treatment of environmental and social issues associated with the development of the project.” It has also been tasked with advising the company, the government and the IDB “on the status and likelihood of compliance of the Project with the applicable provisions of the IDB’s environmental and social safeguards policies.” The purview of the panel includes review of: the analysis of alternatives; the environmental and social impact assessment process (ESIA), including key issues and methods for preparing the ESIA, recommendations and findings; and mitigation, compensation and monitoring plans and arrangements.
However, concerns have been raised about how useful the findings of this panel will be at this late stage, given that the intention is to start the hydropower plant this year. “Unfortunately, IDB seems to have appointed the panel many months too late to be helpful in ensuring the lowest cost way of meeting Guyana’s need for electricity, and in preventing or mitigating impacts, namely by seeing that the ESIA process is reliably designed and in parallel with the engineering feasibility stage which influences the ESIA,” former environmental advisor the World Bank Dr Robert Goodland told this newspaper recently.
Senior Vice President of Sithe Global Rafael Herz had told this newspaper recently that all the recommendations and suggestions of the panel would be looked at if feasible. “All of the recommendations and suggestions by the Expert Panel will be considered, and if feasible, will be incorporated into the [ESIA] and the management plans,” Herz said, when asked how the panel’s findings would impact the ESIA.
In March, Sithe Global released an updated ESIA which was prepared by Exponent Inc with support from Brazilian firm JGP Consultoria e Paricipacoes Ltda. Public consultations are ongoing on the document. The findings out of this process are expected to be reported sometime next month.
