“Final studies” on the Amaila Falls Hydropower project should be completed by August and will determine whether the company that currently holds a licence to develop the venture will go ahead with it.

This disclosure was made by President Bharrat Jagdeo, in response to a question as he took the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy to the University of Guyana on Wednesday.

The President noted that the private contractor has had the licence for many years now and went to tender last year, just before the global financial crisis. At that time, he said, prices for materials such as cement, were about 40% higher than they are today. He recalled that the bid was $600M and said that this would probably be reduced now because of the lower cost of steel and other materials.

He pointed out that on the other hand, the company is finding it difficult to raise money because of the credit crunch. The developer of the project is Synergy Holdings Inc.

“We are doing some final studies now and those studies will determine whether this group will go ahead with it or not,” Jagdeo said. He added that the study should be completed by the end of August and the company has up to October to make a decision on it. If they don’t, the government will secure another source of funding and may create an innovative financial package to get the hydro up. The President said they are working seriously on the project noting that it is a huge one which will cost between US$500M to US$600M.