Melvyn Sankies, a former President of the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE), has expressed concern at the award of huge road contracts for the Amaila Hydro project to Fip Motilall and called for evidence of his ability to undertake the job.
“Where is his experience?” Sankies asked, while noting that “the access road has to be a good road.” According to GAPE’s former president, the recent reports in the press raising questions of this nature were justified.
Sankies, when contacted by Stabroek News, said too that he was puzzled about the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) produced in relation to the project since it does not account for the massive loss of resources. He said it is clear that the removal of trees would constitute a loss of resources. He also mentioned the possibility of minerals located in the area being lost.
Synergy Holdings Inc, the firm awarded the US$15 million contract for the first phase of the Amaila Falls Project, has been involved in several private road building ventures in the US states of Florida and Georgia, including projects where it was required to clear forested areas, a source at NICIL contends.
However, evidence to support this has not been produced despite numerous requests for this to be done. Stabroek News has repeatedly asked President of Synergy Holdings Inc Fip Motilall and Head of NICIL Winston Brassington to provide this information but nothing has been produced to date.
The source within NICIL told Stabroek News that due to Synergy Holding’s experience in clearing large forested areas in the US, it was the best equipped of all the bidders to construct the access roads that constitute part of the first phase of the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project (AFHEP).
During a joint press conference in April held by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Brassington, it was said that Synergy had submitted the most viable and lowest-priced proposal among four bidders. Synergy Holdings had submitted a bid of US$15.4 million. The other bidders were a consortium comprising B&J Civil Works, Ivor Allen & Dynamic Engineering Co Ltd; BK International Inc; and Roopan Ramotar. These entities bid US$16,650,000,US$21,037,500 and US$ 26,000,000. The bid submitted by Synergy Holdings was higher than the price government had estimated for the project, Brassington had said at the press conference, even as he stressed that this was not unusual when there was a public open tender.
Synergy Holdings was awarded the contract for “the upgrading of approximately 85 km of existing roadway,” “the design and construction of approximately 110 km of virgin roadway,” and “the design and construction of two new pontoon crossings at the Essequibo and Kuribrong rivers.” The company is also required to clear a pathway alongside the roadways referred to in the first and second parts of the project to allow for the installation of approximately 65 km of transmission lines.
Meanwhile, a senior member of GAPE challenged recent statements by President Bharrat Jagdeo that when the AFHEP is completed it will push industrialization in the country and result in electricity costs being a third of what they currently are.
“It could reduce consumers’ bill, it would lead to industrialization because of cheaper reliable power and US$100 million that we spend every year to import fuel to generate electricity, the country will save that so it will have a big impact on our balance of payment and therefore, greater stability on our exchange rate and inflation rate,” GINA reported Jagdeo as telling Wakenaam residents on Monday.
The engineer, who asked to remain anonymous, opined that a hydropower plant of 154 MW would never be able to provide electricity for both households and large corporate entities and stated that the talk about “industrialization” was out of the question. He pointed out that currently big businesses like Banks DIH and DDL generate their own power and that a plant of 154 MW would not be able to provide power for these big companies. The engineer said the President appears to be focusing on the city and its environs and opined that while the possibility exists that electricity rates may drop after the hydropower plant becomes operational, citizens may find themselves paying exorbitant prices for goods produced by these large companies who would still be investing heavily in generating their own power. The engineer expressed the view that a hydropower plant in excess of over 300 MW might just be enough to power households and businesses. If the country is to encourage more investors then it would have to have a hydropower plant in excess of 500 MW, the engineer further contended.
According to the engineer, these issues were previously highlighted in newsletters produced by GAPE. Referring to a study done in 1998 on ‘New and Renewable Energy’ which showed that 50 per cent energy/electricity could have been had from new and renewable energy sources, the engineer asked if this study was taken into account before proceeding with the 154 MV Amaila hydropower plant. The engineer suggested that a more effective way of providing cheaper electricity to citizens, particularly in the hinterland regions, would be to build a series of smaller hydropower plants in the interior regions. The administration has identified the Amaila Falls plant as the first in an effort to push hydropower projects in the country. There is talk also of developing an 800 MW hydropower plant in the Mazaruni region, which Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to help Guyana build last year at the opening of the Takutu Bridge.
