MIXED signals are emanating from the Parliamentary Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), over their interest in the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon observed yesterday.

Speaking at his usual post-Cabinet media briefing at Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, he acknowledged that the way forward for the scheme depends, largely, on legislative and other support from the Opposition.
“It is the mixed signals that continue to create doubts and apprehensions about the Opposition’s role in this major transformative project.
“The Leader of the Opposition and senior members publicly proclaimed their support for the project and its implementation but Guyanese through the media [have] been regaled with negativisms and insinuations by other members of the Opposition that would seem to cast doubts about the protestations made by their leaders about their commitment to this project,” Luncheon remarked.
Just recently, both APNU and AFC officials were given a guided tour of the site where it would be executed and the access road leading to it.
Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn had said that the tour was essentially for stakeholders to be aware of the efforts that are being undertaken to ensure Guyana’s largest project ever is successful.

BETTER UNDERSTANDING
The visit, he disclosed, was at the suggestion of President Donald Ramotar, as a way to let the Opposition members have a ‘look-see’, so as to have a better understanding and appreciation of the challenges involved in completing the scheme.
Meanwhile, last April, the parliamentary opposition voted to cut funding for the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) programme under which money was catered for the Amaila Falls project.
The undertaking, once completed, will result in significant foreign exchange savings and a regular supply of less expensive, reliable electricity for Guyanese.
It is a fundamental component of Guyana’s LCDS and will, significantly, lower the nation’s carbon footprint while reducing its long term energy costs and exposure to imported oil price volatility.