APNU will vote for money to maintain Amaila Road

Aug 24, 2013 News

“…with or without hydro it will provide access to interior locations”- Harmon  

Following the announcement by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, that the administration will complete the Amaila Falls Access Road, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) says it has no problem approving money for its prolonged maintenance in future.
In an interview with this publication the Shadow Minister with responsibility for Public Works, Joseph Harmon, said that while the party does not believe the Hydro Electric project is dead, it would vote for money in Parliament to maintain the road, even if there was no hydro.

A completed section of the road at one of the crossings.

Harmon said that it would act as an access road to the interior and would serve a number of mining communities in the Kuribrong region as well as the many Amerindian communities along the way.
According to Harmon, voting for money to maintain the road would also be in keeping with the party’s manifesto as it relates to providing access to the interior.
Dr Luncheon this past week noted that Government is still proceeding with the construction of the Amaila Falls access road. In fact, construction is ongoing, pending a decision on its future.
“Even though the designed Amaila Falls Hydropower Project indeed, and for all intents and purposes, died this most unnatural unexpected death, there may yet be a purpose to which that road would be put,” Dr Luncheon said.
Under the agreement to develop the US$858M Amaila Falls Hydro Electric project, Sithe Global had requested that the Guyana Government maintain the road following the commencement of the project.
According to the project document, it is the government’s responsibility to have the road designed and built.
The access road was initially handed to Makeswhar ‘Fip’ Motilall, Synergy Holdings Inc at a cost of US$15.8M. The cost of building the road has since been revised upward, with several other contracts being terminated, as Motilall’s was.
The most recent contract was awarded to China Railway First Group (Guyana) Inc.