– now just about 20 per cent complete
ENGINEER attached to the Ministry of Public Works and Communication, Mr. Walter Willis said yesterday that the Amaila Falls Road Project is now just about 20 per cent complete, with rain, lack of critical equipment and labour hampering work on the ground. Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, he said the hope is to have substantial completion of sections two, three, four and five by June 2 and, by the middle of August, sections six and seven to a point where they can accommodate all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and four-wheel drive pick-ups and trucks.

Willis explained that the contractor was given 240 days, from the time of the award of the first construction notice to proceed, by which to complete the works and that was issued on October 5, 2010, with the second on January 11, 2011.

He disclosed that 15 pieces of equipment are expected in the country and he was on his way to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to collect a waiver for them, although he was reluctant to state when exactly is the arrival date, pointing out that, with the present climatic conditions, shipping delays may be inevitable.

Willis said, while works on the ground are ongoing, they have been inevitably delayed by the hold-up of equipment and the rainy weather.

“We hope that, with the arrival of the additional equipment, the project would be able to catch up,” he said.

Willis said the 20 per cent progress on the project should have been by this time closer to 50 per cent and also noted that 65 per cent of the time has already elapsed for the completion of the road.

The road is the precursor to the larger Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Scheme, which will take about four years to be done. That facility, which is expected to have at least 140 megawatts of electricity capacity, would be sited along the Kuribrong River in Potaro.

President Bharrat Jagdeo is on record as saying that the development of renewable energy sources is needed to increase energy security and maintain macro-economic stability, given that Guyana’s fuel import bill is US$350M annually.

It has been widely reported that the project generation should transform Guyana’s energy use from non-renewable to clean and that this will have implications for volume, affordability and reliability of power and the cost of doing business.
The hydro developer is Sithe Global Power, LLC, based in New York, United States (U.S.), an international development company involved in the construction, acquisition and operation of electric power generation facilities.

The company started as Sithe Energies Inc. in 1968 but has since become one of the largest power producers in the U.S., having developed some 50 generating plants in nine countries, with a capital investment of US$5 billion, according to project documents.