Synergy Holdings Inc., the company constructing the Amaila Falls hydropower project access road, benefited from a government-approved waiver on taxes on its recent shipment of equipment, a well-placed source said.
The official, while not disclosing the exact figure waived, said that this exemption was part of the contractual agreement the company had with the government. Synergy Holdings Inc., headed by Fip Motilall was controversially awarded the US$15.4 million contract earlier this year to construct the road. Following the award of the contract, the company was given an advance on this money, which President Bharrat Jagdeo has said is a standard practice in the award of such contracts.
Two Sundays ago, a barge containing the majority of the company’s equipment arrived in the country after a lengthy delay. Last week transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn disclosed that the equipment included three front end loaders, four excavators, four dump trucks, two CR bulldozers and one scraper.” Before this, two front end loaders had arrived on a previous shipment. Benn, however, was unable to say whether this was the full complement of required equipment. According to him, there is a basic listing of equipment but this could change based on conditions encountered.
Benn said that the imported equipment will be used primarily for clearing and sub grade preparation of the road. He said that later on, the standard finishing equipment such as rollers, graders, water trucks etc, necessary for the completion of the road will be shipped “in due course.”
Senior government engineer and project overseer Walter Willis said yesterday that an audit of Synergy’s Equipment is being conducted by the Public Works Ministry. Last week, he disclosed that the company’s equipment would be scrutinized by mechanical engineers to determine whether they are in a condition to do the required work.
Meanwhile, the Environ-mental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the project is presently being finalized and will be sent shortly to the required agencies for the necessary approval to be granted. Questioned about the delay in getting the environmental assessments completed, Willis explained that an “extensive environmental audit” was necessary, especially since a number of international agencies are involved.
Willis said too that even as the technical details regarding the construction of the road have been outlined, currently personnel are conducting field checks. He stressed that this process is necessary to guarantee the success of the project.
Last week, Willis said that following ground seeking exercises and surveys, proposed revisions were made to the design and these are being reviewed. “As you know we gave them the notice to proceed on the 15th of April, meaning they should start their ground seeking exercise and their survey in order to provide us with details of the design. This has gone through two revisions… the last submission was on the 6th of August which we consider to be their final submission and that now is being reviewed,” he said.
The first phase of the project includes “the upgrading of approximately 85 km of existing roadway, the design and construction of approximately 110 km of virgin roadway, the design and construction of two new pontoon crossings at the Essequibo and Kuribrong rivers.”The fourth part of the project is for the clearing of a pathway alongside the roadways to allow for the installation of approximately 65km of transmission lines.
Given the intensive nature of the work there have been repeated questions about Synergy’s experience in executing these tasks. Neither the government nor Synergy has yet presented evidence of its execution of similar works despite numerous questions over several months.
