Initial investors still on board with Amaila Falls Hydro Project-President

Georgetown, GINA, March 27, 2014

Government remains optimistic that the Amaila Falls Hydro-Power project will become a reality hence the allocation of funds for this venture in the 2014 National Budget. This point was made by President Donald Ramotar, at a media briefing today, at the Presidential Complex.

“We haven’t given up on Amaila. As far as I know it is back with the IDB (Inter American Development Bank) board, and hopefully they be concluding on that in the not too distant future. The US$80 million is coming from the GRIF to put as our equity into the Amaila Fall project so that’s where that money is coming from.”

The president said that while it’s a pity that the multi-million dollar project didn’t start last year, it is still on government’s “radar” and the hope is that it will begin this year.

Though preliminary in nature, the president said that Sithe Global and the Blackstone Group are still on board with the project. If they withdraw from the project, government will seek to have other investors come on board, he added.

The project, which is geared to provide cheaper, reliable electricity to Guyana, was halted after the political opposition signalled their disagreement with it. Despite public consultations and several meetings with stakeholders, investors and government officials, funding for the project was slashed in the National Assembly and the investors suspended their input into the project.

The Amaila Hydropower Project involves the construction of a hydropower plant in the area of west-central Guyana, where the Amaila and Kuribrong rivers meet. Electricity produced at the plant will be delivered to Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, and its second largest town, Linden, by an electric transmission line.