This is in response to Tony Viera’s (KN August 19) and Lurlene Nestor’s (SN Aug 19) missives on Amaila’ (SN Aug 19).  Contrary to Viera’s contention, a majority of opinion has not rejected the Amalia hydro project.

I do not think Viera did a study among the population for their views on the project.  He claims all respondents to an article opposed the project.  I did not read the article in question or the responses in the blog (as I do not read blogs – most of which tend to unintelligent and unintellectual) but I find his conclusion incredible.
Nevertheless, email responses in an open blog are not a scientific determination of the views of a population.  Views have to be randomly selected if they are going to be representative of the population and the views on the blog are of Viera do not correspond to that of the general population.
I do not know if Amaila is the best hydro project for Guyana but I do believe Guyana needs cheap non-fossil, sustainable energy. Instead of rejecting Amaila, Viera and others should engage in a non-emotional and non-political discussion on the subject.
A feasibility study is the right approach to the project and a scientific poll is the right approach to determine support for (or opposition to) the project.
I conducted an opinion survey (for NACTA) in Guyana earlier this month interviewing hundreds of respondents on the initial rejection of the hydro project.  The poll found a majority of the population supportive of Amaila. The poll did not discuss the cost and benefit of the project and whether it is advantageous to the nation.  It simply asked whether voters support the position of the opposition parties to reject Amalia. If he does not wish to conduct a poll, I suggest Viera simply go around town and randomly ask people if they support Amalia. He would be surprised at the findings.
Even a majority of PNC/APNU supporters back Amaila. People believe that Amaila will provide them with cheaper electricity than currently obtains. People all over the coast feel they should get subsidised cheap electricity as enjoyed by the residents of Linden and are convinced that Amaila is the answer to lower cost energy.
It would be foolhardy to conclude that the PNC supporters back their leadership’s “principled position” on Amaila unless some kind of similar study is conducted among them for their views.