FINANCE Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh has signaled that this Thursday’s sitting of Parliament is critical to matters relating to the Amaila Falls project.
Among matters up for discussion on the day in question are:
? A motion to increase the debt ceiling, and
? Amendments to the Hydro Electric Act
According to a release issued by the

Minister’s office yesterday, “Government has, over the last few weeks, maintained a close engagement with the opposition, particularly APNU,” with which party it shared “a multitude of critical documents… on a confidential basis.”
The same could not be said, however, of its relationship with the AFC on the matter. “Despite repeated invitations,” the minister is quoted as saying in the release, “the AFC has declined Government’s overtures on the Amaila project.”
Rather, they opted last Thursday to engage the GPL Board and management in discussion on matters relating to GPL and Amaila Falls.
This Thursday’s scheduled debate of the Motion and Bill relating to the Amaila Falls project, the release says, “follows a deferral of the said debate from June 27 to the new date following a request by APNU.”
Noting that decisions on the matters at the upcoming Parliament meeting are critical to ensuring that the IDB timetable for the Board’s consideration of the transaction is achieved, the Finance Ministry said in its statement:
“Government officials have indicated that key documents pertaining to the environmental studies of the project have been published on the Bank’s website:  (http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=37866620)  in keeping with the mandatory 120-day Pelosi requirement before being voted on by the US chair on the board.”
This requirement, the release goes on to say, “satisfies one of the key conditional ties for the project to be voted on by the Bank’s Board of Directors at the end of October.”
According to the release, “Government has engaged key stakeholders, including the opposition, during key points of the project’s development.”
Early last year, Sithe Global made presentations to the media, private sector groups, and opposition parties. Various meetings were also convened at the Office of the President for presentation to the opposition in March 2012, March 2013 and most recently, in June of this year.
Minister Singh has expressed concern that without timely Parliamentary support, progress with the Amaila project could be threatened, as critical deadlines are looming and expiration dates on certain commitments expire this year.