“The Alliance for Change acknowledges receipt of your letter inviting us to a presentation on the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project,” said AFC General Secretary David Patterson in response to a letter of invitation from Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon to attend a presentation on the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric project.
“The AFC, considering the invitation in light of recent public remarks by His Excellency against the Vice-Chairman [Nagamootoo] of the Alliance for Change, is hard pressed to believe that such an invitation is intended to initiate meaningful engagement with the AFC.
“Having noted the President’s comments at Babu John and in the light of the tone and content articulated by His Excellency, the AFC finds it necessary to review its engagements with the President. We thank you for your kind invitation but regrettably must decline,” said the letter.
At Babu John, President Ramotar launched a tirade against the opposition in general and Nagamootoo, in particular, calling him a jackass and someone that is intellectually inept. He also attacked Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, an executive of the AFC, saying that he was forced to change his ruling on whether Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee could speak in the House. He said that Trotman did not do so out of the goodness of his heart.
The main opposition APNU will be attending the presentation, as confirmed by APNU MP Joseph Harmon yesterday. Harmon said that his party has also received an invitation to the presentation and will be attending the session.
Speaking at a press conference in January, President Donald Ramotar had stated that financial closure for the project is likely to be concluded by the second or third quarter of this year.
The Inter-American Deve-lopment Bank (IDB) is to conduct its due-diligence exercise to determine whether the project will benefit from a critical piece of funding from that institution. Construction of the hydro is due to commence following financial closure.
