| Amaila Falls Hydro Project…Sithe Global,Cheap NFL Jerseys, the developers of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project, is not pushing back the date for the start of construction for the project despite uncertainty as to when the road to the site will actually be completed.“Our timeline for construction has not changed – we still aim to begin construction as soon as we reach financial closure, at the end of 2011,” a spokesperson for Sithe Global said through public relations consultant Cathy Hughes.The controversial US$15.4M contract to build access roads to Amaila Falls continues to be way behind schedule, with just about two months before the contract deadline is up. The government had defended the award of the road contract to Synergy Holdings when questions were raised about the way the contract was awarded.There were also questions about the company’s competence to undertake the project.Now, the government itself has admitted that Synergy Holdings is way behind schedule, and the developers are insisting they want to commence construction at year end, once financial closure is secured.“We hope to reach financial closure by the end of 2011,” the Sithe Global spokesperson told Kaieteur News.While Government had given the green light to Synergy Holdings Inc. on October 5, last year, to start work, the work is only one-third completed, says Walter Willis, Senior Engineer of the Ministry of Public Works. Willis is supervising the works on behalf of Government.The comments to Kaieteur News followed a decision by this newspaper not to publish advertisements of Sithe Global after the company stopped responding to questions.This week, the company sought to explain why it had decided to stop responding to questions posed by this newspaper.“Sithe Global is committed to an open and transparent dialogue with the public about the Project. However, sometimes there are questions we don’t yet have the answer to or are commercially sensitive,” the company said.Towards the end of May, James McGowan, Senior Vice President of Sithe Global, said via email, that the company had already spent “several million dollars” on developing the project.Kaieteur News then emailed McGowan, asking him to say exactly how much money was spent and to say what this amount of money was used for.McGowan did not respond, and instead, the Kaieteur News reporter, following the story, was sent an email by the Sithe Global team stating that it would not be commenting further.This week, the company sought to answer that very question it now says it did not have the answer to at the time or that it could not answer because of commercial interests.“As you would expect, a project of the size and complexity of the Amaila Hydropower Project requires significant expenditure at the outset.“Sithe Global has incurred significant development costs in order to get this Project to financial closure,” Sithe Global stated.It said that the majority of the costs incurred to date relate to the environmental work, namely two “extensive field study campaigns” and the completion of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, and “significant technical work,Wholesale China Jerseys, including engineering and design of the project plus technical investigations in the field.”In July last year, the Guyana Government signed off on a loan deal to build the project and formalize the cooperation between the Guyana Power and Light Company, Sithe Global, China Development Bank and China Railway First Group Company Limited.At that time, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said that the agreement clearly sets out the parties’ intent to bring financial closure within 12 months, or “ideally…sooner”. With Sithe Global putting a year-end deadline to financial closure, that puts the original timeline behind by six months.Sithe Global has committed US$200 million to the project, which it says could cost as much as US$700 million.Sithe Global has identified China Railway First Group to build the hydropower plant.Sithe Global only received permission one and a half years ago to develop the project, after the original developers, Synergy Holdings,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, transferred their licence.Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, has claimed that in the 13 years Synergy Holdings held the licence it spent US$5 million.The Amaila Falls Project consists of two main components. The first component is the building of the hydro electricity plant. McGowan said this will cost an estimated US$320 million, calculating at an estimated US$1,900 per kilowatt. The project is now expected to generate 165 megawatts.The second component of the project would be the installation of a transmission line to relay the electricity generated at the plant to power stations in Linden and at Sophia in Georgetown.The line will be 270 kilometres long and will form the backbone of the new grid system. This project, Sithe Global says, will cost US$130 million.This means that the construction cost of the plant and the installation of the transmission line would amount to US$450 million.Less than six months after Synergy Holdings, under Makeshwar “Fip” Motilall, realised that he could no longer develop the Amaila Falls Hydro Project and agreed to have the licence granted to Sithe Global (October, 2009), Government handed him a US$15.4 million contract to build roads and bridges leading to the project site.The government announced the award of the contract to Motilall on March 26, 2010. Synergy Holdings was given the first notice to proceed on October 5 last year for some sections of the road, while the green light for the other section through virgin rainforest was given on January 11, this year.Those bidding for the contracts were asked to provide their experience in similar large scale projects together with references and credentials, and detail the equipment he owns and would require to carry out the project.Synergy Holdings has come under the radar over its experience in building roads and its ability to carry out the project. The company’s contract is for the upgrade of approximately 85 kilometers of existing roadway and the design and construction of approximately 110 kilometers of new road.The works also include building bridges across the Essequibo and Kuribrong rivers.In addition,Discount NFL Jerseys, the contract takes into account clearing the way for the installation of a 65-kilometre transmission line.The Amaila site is located on the Kuribrong River, a tributary of the Potaro River in west central Guyana.While Government had given the green light to Synergy Holdings Inc. on October 5, last year, to start work, the work is only one-third completed, Walter Willis,Cheap Jerseys Online, Senior Engineer of the Ministry of Public Works, told Kaieteur News recently.Attempts by the contractor to outsource some of the works to meet a September deadline,NBA Jerseys China, are not finding much success. |
