President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed, at a press briefing at the Office of the President on Friday, that the Amaila Falls hydropower project will likely commence mid-next year, and is currently awaiting the approval of loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and China Development Bank.

“We are looking at the loans for the project and we’re looking at the IDB and China Development Bank for that. We need to move to the financial closure. Once that’s done, we can go ahead with the project,” the Head of State indicated.

The US$500-600M needed to finance the project will come from a mix of equity, multilateral and bilateral financing, and an injection of Government funds.

He explained that the equity partner, Sithe Global, has already brought its investment, US$130M, to the table, and Government has earmarked another US$20-25M to assist with road works and clearing the path for the transmission lines.

“We have our money set aside for a small loan to the project, probably about US$20-25M, but that’s to do the road going in so that can accelerate the project and clear the path for the transmission mains,” he stated.

At an earlier press conference on October 12, President Jagdeo had told the media that his meeting with IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno in Turkey had dealt with “putting together the financing for the (Amaila Falls) hydro-power” project.

The IDB would play a critical role in organizing the financing for the project as well as providing some funds, President Jagdeo had explained.

He noted that Moreno has offered to host a meeting early next month in Washington, D. C. to further discussions on the matter.

On Friday, the President explained that the meeting was productive.

“The meeting went extremely well in Washington; we met with the project developers and some of the financial institutions. Everything seems to be on track if we work hard for mid-next year to start the hydropower (project),” he noted.

CGX oil exploration
The Head of State also indicated that he had urged CGX, the oil exploration company that has a permit for the Corentyne Basin, to start drilling.

“I’ve made it clear to CGX they need to move beyond talk now to putting down a well. That’s first. They’re coming to see me on November 21. They will be here to talk about that and their plans – specific plans and concrete action,” President Jagdeo told the media. (GINA)