A monitoring secretariat is being established by the government to monitor and execute the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project and it will be based at the Office of the President, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon said yesterday.
Luncheon, at a post-Cabinet press briefing, said that the secretariat will be chaired by President Donald Ramotar, with administrative support provided by the government holding company, the National Investment and Commercial Guyana Limited (NICIL), and the involvement of the major domestic players.
He listed the major domestic players as the Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA), the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Ministry of Public Works and the security forces.
While pointing out that this is the largest investment project in the history of Guyana, which would result in hundreds of millions of dollars in US imports arriving here mainly by sea, Luncheon noted that “there is a wide range of responsibilities that will have to be networked” to ensure that the success of the project.
When asked if there would be any parliamentary involvement in the body, Luncheon responded in the negative. “This is a monitoring secretariat to improve, enhance, [and] follow the execution of the project. I want to believe that, as we have done before, parliamentary monitoring, parliamentary supervision would be carried out through the parliamentary structures, the sectoral committees that are there or by the establishment of special committees by Parliament to do that. This is specifically set up by the administration to monitor, [and] promote the execution of the project,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Luncheon also revealed to reporters that cabinet has granted its no objection for the award of purchase of $30.18 million worth of equipment for the Amaila Falls access road.
The Amaila Falls Hydropower project is a private sector project involving the construction of a hydropower plant on the Kuribrong River in the Cuyuni/Mazaruni, with 165MW peak capacity.
The hydropower project began amid controversy when the government awarded a US$15.4 million contract to Fip Motilall’s Synergy Holdings Inc to construct the access road. After delays, the government eventually cancelled the contract in January this year.
The construction agreement for the project was signed earlier this month in Xian, China by Sithe Global and China Railway First Group (CRFG) and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh.
