Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
Amaila Falls’ US15.4M roads delayed again
– ‘Fip Motilall’ to hire sub-contractors
Plagued by controversy ever since it was awarded to Makeswar ‘Fip’ Motilall of Synergy Holdings Inc, the
Under fire: Makeswar ‘Fip’ Motilall
US15.4M Amaila Falls Road Project is in even more problems.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, has announced that the completion date has yet again been pushed back.
Luncheon, during his post Cabinet press briefings yesterday, disclosed that the new completion date for the project is now March or April in 2012.
It has now been agreed by Motilall, the consultants and the Government of Guyana that sections of the road will have to be sub-contracted out to other companies to speed up the works.
As it relates to the percentage of the US$15.4M paid over to Synergy Holdings Inc for works already completed, the official was unable to say but promised to make that information available.
Dr Luncheon was also unable at the time to say how much of the road has been completed.
Motilall had earlier this year promised to take media operatives to the interior to view the progress of the road but that never materialized.
The roads are to be used for linking the planned hydro project to road networks and have to be completed before financial closure of that hydro project. Government has been tagging this year end as the deadline for closing the financial deal but the roads have been experiencing several delays.
That hydro project, despite not having taken off as yet and is yet to secure financial closure, has already been engulfed in its share of controversy as the price tag has moved from a stated US$400M to over US$800M, more than double.
The breakdown of the project awarded to Synergy Holdings Inc. states that the upgrade of 89km of road will cost US$3.9M; the 110km of virgin roadway, US$7M; the two pontoon crossings or a bridge US$1.5M and clearing of the roadways US$3M.
The storage dam site of the hydro project would be located near the top of Amaila Falls and would impound the waters of both the Kuribrong and Amaila Rivers.
The Amaila site is located on the Kuribrong River, a tributary of the Potaro River in West Central Guyana. The nearest point of access is the airstrip at Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River, approximately 15 miles to the south.
There has been questions over Motilall and his experience but the previous administration led by President Bharrat Jagdeo has come to his defense on a number of occasions when those issues had arisen.
Jadgeo had contended that an evaluation team of technical financial analysts and engineers had determined that Motilall had the necessary expertise to undertake the project.
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