PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar will meet with the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, to continue discussions on the funding of the Amaila

Falls hydro project, during his upcoming to visit to the US where he is scheduled to address the 67th Session of UN general Assembly.
The president made this disclosure yesterday at a press conference at the Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.
He said that he is hopeful that his meeting with the IDB president will help to bring the project another step closer to completion. Nevertheless, he said that they are working to get everything updated and ready locally for construction to take place as soon as all agreements have been completed.
He noted that some important steps were made to move the project forward with the signing of the Engineering procurement and Construction (EPC) Agreement in China last week.
The Amaila Falls project is expected to cost approximately US$840 million, of which, US$200 million has been allotted for risk insurance. Asked whether, there is a possibility of having this risk insurance removed; President Ramotar said it may be more possible to bargain for a reduction rather than complete removal of the insurance.
He further explained that most large investments require this type of insurance, citing political instability as one of the reasons. He said the more political stability you have within a society, the less some of these risk insurances would be.
Meanwhile, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon said at a press conference last Thursday,that the government has established a monitoring secretariat for the Amaila Falls project which has brought together the major domestic players under the chairmanship of President Donald Ramotar.
According to Dr. Luncheon, those bodies involve the widest range of players that have to make a contribution in the successful completion of this facility. It therefore extends from the Ministry of Public Works, and its own resources and contractors in getting the road completed, to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The GRA, he said, is another big player because “you’re talking here about the largest investment project in the history of Guyana and you’re talking about hundreds of millions of US dollars of imports arriving here mostly by sea and having to be cleared and having to be transported all the way up to the site.”
Dr. Luncheon advised that other agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency, Guyana Lands and Surveys and the security forces. He said they will have to continue offering the sustained service at the end of the planned 33-36 months when the switch is thrown and renewable power is available to Guyana.