First batch of equipment docks at Port G/town

Aug 16, 2010 News

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US$15.4 Amaila Falls Road Project…

…security instructed to keep media away
Despite the many assurances by the Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn, that the media would be given notice of the arrival of the first batch of road building equipment for Synergy Holdings Inc., and would be allowed to be at the wharf to take pictures when it arrives, this was not the case.
The barge containing the equipment docked at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation’s Shipyard and Wharf early yesterday morning. The vessel arrived at the offshore pilot station some time around midnight and a local pilot boarded the barge and brought it to shore.
The ‘cloak and dagger’ operation was not entirely unexpected, given the scrutiny the Amaila Falls Road Project has received and the unconvincing suggestions that “all is going well” when it obviously is not.

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
When Kaieteur News arrived at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) wharf yesterday, the reporters were told that they could not get access to the barge.

Moreover, it was made clear that specific instructions came from, “way up” that the media must not be granted access.
This newspaper had to charter a boat and travel along the Demerara River to get an opportunity to see the vessel with the equipment and from the vantage point, observed a couple of heavy duty trucks and several excavators, among other pieces of equipment.
The equipment bore the logo “Synergy Holdings Inc.” and were partially shielded behind two tugs.
Prior to the shipment of this equipment, contractor Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall, President of Synergy Holdings Inc., had imported four All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and one grader for the start of the construction of the road project.
The equipment that arrived yesterday morning were delayed by several weeks and it is unclear as to the status of any subsequent shipment and the location of that equipment which is required for the timely completion of the road project, ahead of the critical Hydroelectric Plant for which a framework agreement has already been signed.
For the record, in a July 14 press conference hosted by Minister Benn, it was disclosed that the road building equipment being brought in by the contractor would arrive here one week later, on July 21. When this did not materialise, a new arrival date was given–July 24 – and this too failed to become a reality.
But authorities subsequently insisted on a somewhat unpersuasive “wait and you will see” attitude, until on August 11, Minister Benn told this newspaper that the barge would be here, “in a day or two.”
There was a legitimate reason, namely Tropical Depression ‘Colin”, which aided in the delay of the equipment, but several officials close to the project are adamant that the weather system only played a role in the latter days and that Motilall was having difficulties in sourcing the equipment.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, when asked about the ability of Synergy Holdings Inc. to undertake the massive and challenging project, given the fact that there is a lack of any evidence that the contractor has built roads anywhere – said that the company was awarded the contract based on the recommendation of a technical evaluation team and should the contractor fail to deliver, he will be penalised.
Jagdeo said that he has seen issues against the contractor but “he (the Contractor) has to deliver or he will face the full penalty.

DEFAULTED BUT NEVER PENALISED
A point to note is that Motilall, who has defaulted on more than one occasion with agreements with this government and the Guyana Power and Light, has not been penalised before.
This newspaper has also sent pertinent questions to Motilall via email on Saturday when it was learnt that he may have left the country but these questions were not answered.
The contractor on a previous occasion at his local Head Office in John Smith Street, Campbellville, had said that there was a media blackout in effect and that the company would not make any pronouncements until “the appropriate time”.
According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2006 by Motilall (representing Synergy Holdings Inc.), Prime Minister Samuel Hinds as Minister with responsibility for energy, and the then Chairman of Guyana Power and Light, Ronald Alli, the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Plant (AFHEP) should have begun generating power from the first day of this month. That MoU was signed on May 23, 2006, in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Moreover, the government MoU that was signed with Motilall never included the fact that a road needed to be built to facilitate the construction of the plant, despite the obvious inaccessibility of the site.
That MoU has since been discarded and the Hydro Electric Project handed to Sithe Global. Motilall, in turn, has been awarded a US$15.4M contract to build the access road to the site.
When asked recently about the MoU that he signed, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said that he did not recall signing any such document, citing the fact that he signs many documents on a daily basis.
The MoU signed with Motilall also contained an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Agreement in effect with Synergy and Wartsila Finland Oy, which this newspaper learnt was never instituted.
The EPC agreement was for the purchase, dismantling and reassembling of a 25 MW thermal generation plant to be installed in Kingston.
In the “Conditions and Precedent” section of the MoU, it is stated that “the EPC has been executed and is in effect” which was not the case, but the Government and GPL still signed on to the construction of the plant with Motilall.
This newspaper has learnt that Motilall never had an agreement with Wartsila and had tried to source the 25MW generator from numerous sources, including Mexico, but to no avail. He had even sought the assistance of one Sam Barakat, although in the Memorandum he had stated that he had sourced the power plant.

QUESTIONABLE REPUTATION
Motilall and his Synegry Holdings Inc.’s reputation for executing projects have long been in question:
The Synergy Holdings Inc. Head Office address is listed on the website (http://www.synergyholdings.net/contact_us.htm) as 951 Sansbury’s Way, Suite 204 West Palm Beach Florida in the United States of America.
That address is also listed for Synergy Energy Solutions, Inc.
Both companies still to date list on their websites (http://www.synergyholdings.net/esolutions/default.htm and (http://www.synergyholdings.net/energy/hydro/amailafalls/amailafalls.htm) – that they are constructing a hydro power plant in Guyana.
That remains the case, despite the fact that Executive Director of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Winston Brassington, has already clarified that Sithe Global will be undertaking the project and that a framework agreement has been signed with the Chinese.
This newspaper visited the address listed as the Head Office for Synergy Holdings Inc., only to realise that it is located in a Shopping Plaza and in the identified Suite 204, Hindu religious paraphernalia (pooja) and garments are sold there.
Identified on a business card for Liberty Foods International Grocery Store is Fip Motilall and that business is at Unit 203, 951 Sansbury’s Way, Suite 204, West Palm Beach, Florida, meaning that the two businesses operated by Motilall sit side by side in the Shopping Plaza.
Motilall is expected to build a road that will require construction to high standards and will require significant maintenance during construction, as it will be the only access for all earthmoving and construction equipment, some of which will be sizeable.
While President Bharrat Jagdeo contends that the evaluation team of technical financial analysts and engineers has determined that Motilall has the necessary expertise to undertake the project, Motilall is yet to convince the public that he can undertake the project and his track record is yet to raise hope.

PUZZLING FACTS ABOUT SYNERGY
The earliest mention of Synergy Holdings Incorporated is in the State of Minnesota, USA, in 1997.
In a press conference held at the Tower Hotel in Georgetown on July 24, 2006, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds noted that Makeshwar Fip Motilall had been working with a number of North American partners as early as 1996 to pursue a hydropower development at Amaila Falls to supply the local electricity grid.
The following companies were all registered in the State of Florida by Motilall (Source: Public Record Data – Department of State – Division of Corporations):
Tropical Aquaculture was registered as a Fictitious Name on August 14, 2002; Desain Ranch Inc. was incorporated on Friday, March 26, 2004 and is currently active; Cabbage Woods Ranches Inc. was incorporated on Thursday, May 06, 2004 and is currently active; Country Farm Estates Homeowners Association Inc. was incorporated on Tuesday, August 09, 2005 and is currently not active; Great Oaks Estates Inc. was incorporated on Thursday, June 23, 2005 and is currently active; Great Oaks Estates Property Owners Association was incorporated on Thursday, July 28, 2005 and is currently active; Liberty Foods of Palm Beach, Inc. was incorporated on Thursday, October 13, 2005 and is currently active; Synergy Holdings Inc. was incorporated on Friday, December 09, 2005 in the State of FL and is currently active; Timberland Estates Inc. was registered as a Fictitious Name on March 13, 2006; Synergy Energy Solutions Inc. was incorporated on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 in the State of FL and is currently active.

A TALL ORDER
Synergy Holding Incorporated is expected to commence construction of some 110km of virgin road through the forest as well as 85km of road where trails already exist. In fact, as mentioned above, this operation was supposed to have begun some time ago.
According to the agreement signed with NICIL, Motilall must produce a continuous, all-weather road to be built incorporating existing roads where possible and building new ones as needed to accommodate automobile, bus, and heavy truck-access, from Georgetown to Amaila Falls.
The time frame for the completion of the road has been dubbed impractical.
It was pointed out by a reputable entity that 110 km of road in eight months (approximately 240 days) means constructing some quarter of a mile of finished road daily and is, “a tall order if one is to clear virgin forest.”
Motilall is also responsible for the construction and supply of a pontoon crossing on each bank of the Essequibo River at or in the vicinity of Butakari, and on the Kuribrong River, at or in the vicinity of Portage Falls, in accordance with the specifications set out.
The pontoon must be capable of carrying 100 tonnes minimum. The roads (whether new or existing) must also be capable to carry 20 tonne/axle vehicles with the design maximum unit carrying capacity of 100 tonnes.
All roads must also be stabilised and capped with a minimum six inches of laterite or similar materials compacted to 95 per cent proctor and suitable for use as the final wear surface.

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Sandpit owner shot to chest

– Wife in custody
A Crabwood Creek, Berbice sandpit owner, is presently in the Georgetown Hospital, nursing a gunshot wound to his abdomen, which he sustained yesterday afternoon.
Rickford Joseph, 37, told reporters that he received the wound when bandits attacked his home and ended up shooting him in the abdomen after he restrained them from entering the house.
However, Kaieteur News understands that the man’s wife was taken into custody and up to press time she was still being detained at the Springlands Police Station.
Investigators believe that the man may not be telling the truth, since he never reported any robbery at his home when he was questioned by police in a Berbice hospital shortly after the incident.
Relatives who were present at the Georgetown Hospital last evening said they are very surprised that the police arrested the man’s wife.
“How could you arrest the wife when the husband told you he was robbed,” said a close relative.
Kaieteur News understands that a statement was taken from the businessman.
But police in a press release stated that initial investigations revealed that Rickford Joseph was at the back of his yard emptying garbage when he heard an explosion and felt a burning sensation to his stomach.
“He was taken to the Skeldon Hospital where he was treated for a gunshot injury and later transferred to the GPHC,” the police statement said.
Relatives are however claiming that Joseph was in the bottom flat of his house cleaning crab, when the men reportedly invaded his home.
A close relative of the businessman who was at the hospital told Kaieteur News that the man barred the bandits from entering his home and he was shot.
At the time of the incident the businessman’s wife and 16-year old daughter were upstairs.
Hospital sources last night told this publication that the man was not shot at close range. His condition is listed as stable, but doctors are still monitoring him. Up to press time the man was a patient in the High Dependency Unit of the hospital.

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