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FM
Former Member
‘Fip’ deemed hopelessly behind schedule since April
DECEMBER 24, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS
…Luncheon says delay will not hamper financial closure for Hydro project

With the US$15.4M Amaila Falls Road project which was handed to Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall and Synergy Holdings Inc being delayed by several months Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon is still insisting that financial closure for the Hydro Electric Project will not be affected by the delay.

The road is to pave the way for the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project which has seen estimates increase from US$450M to a staggering US$835M.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon told this publication recently that the financial closure has not been made as yet “and there will continue to be opportunities to synchronize the road conclusion and the beginning of the hydro construction.”

The beginning of the substantive project in the form of the Hydro Electric project depends on financial closure which has not occurred as yet.

“So we are not locked in,” Dr Luncheon stated while illustrating his point explained that should there have been a drop dead date such as February 2nd, then there would have had to be financial closure by then.

“The completion of the road is not linked to financial closure…Financial closure depends on the parties involved; Government, those who are financing, those who are constructing agreeing on a financial package to get the work done … the road is not included in those considerations.”

He explained that the road is a ‘vehicle’ to ensure that when the construction (of the Hydro-Electric project) starts it is not encumbered by access difficulties …”so there is a bit of a room, there is a bit of possibility for some movements to take place.”

Dr Luncheon, during his most recent post Cabinet press briefing disclosed that the new completion date for the road 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.

Dr Luncheon had himself conceded that the Road Project is hopelessly behind schedule and the suggestion was there for him to contract out the components ever since then.

Dr Luncheon had even suggested that Motilall should be very worried because the design of the contract stipulates stringent penalties.

“The penalties are quite significant and will be enforced for not meeting the drop dead date.”

Senior Engineer at the Ministry of Public Works, Walter Willis, at that time had told this newspaper that there were no delays as such but rather lost days which had to be given back to the contractor.

Willis said the first notice to proceed was given in October 5, for some sections of the road. On January 11 the next notice to proceed was issued and this section entailed virgin forest.

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 will be US$1.5M and ‘T’ line clearing is said to be US$3M.

Hand in Hand Group of Companies is the company that has backed Synergy Holdings Inc. with the US$3M mobilization and security bonds which were a prerequisite to securing the recently awarded Amaila Falls Road contract.

The road that Synergy Holdings is building is to pave the way for the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project which is described as just part of a larger effort to revolutionise Guyana’s power generation infrastructure.

The storage dam site 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.

An overland trail exists from Kaieteur to Amaila. Access is also provided overland by an all-weather road through Tumatumari on the Potaro River and on to Mahdia and Kangaruma.

River access along the Potaro-Kuribrong Rivers to the foot of Amaila Falls involves several portages around rapids and waterfalls.

The road from Tumatumari was recently extended to Mahdia/Kangaruma that brings the project closer to the site but approximately 30 miles of additional roads will need to be built to the top of Amaila Falls.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

More PPP excuses for mismanagement. These guys love to reward incompetency and what is stranger is they keep repeating the same mistakes.

But this is how they get a kickback of the funding. They award contracts to their cronies who can't produce the final product for a nice fee.
FM
I remember not so long ago when these THIEVES were insisting that "time [was of] the essence" to justify the egregious and criminal arrangements with the so called 'road building contractor.'
FM
quote:
Originally posted by redux:
I remember not so long ago when these THIEVES were insisting that "time [was of] the essence" to justify the egregious and criminal arrangements with the so called 'road building contractor.'
That was in a effort to get the Norway LCDS funding before Jagdeo left office.

BTW ... are they still handing out laptops or did they put that on ice after losing elections? Big Grin
FM
They never handed out any laptops Big Grin. They were just cheap netbooks that were reportedly bought in bulk for about U$275 EACH. The actual cost price of those netbooks is around U$75 from the factory in China. So U$200 went missing on each and everyone of those 27,000 netbooks.
Mr.T
There should be ‘tripartite leadership’ on the Amaila project

Posted By Stabroek staff On December 16, 2011 @ 5:07 am In Letters | No Comments

Dear Editor,

President Ramotar has stated to the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce at their dinner in December 2011 that Guyana is well poised for major advances including the hydro project. Is this so?

The previous charge made against the PPP leaders – that they were not moving forward fast enough – failed to spark action against Fip Motilal, who is now one of the primary cogs in the wheel for completing Amaila. The Jagdeo regime was misfocused: not sufficiently concerned about delivery on the contract resulting in this road not being completed by a contractor who had no experience in building a $3 billion road. What will President Ramotar do about this?

If Guyana does not move away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy, the omens are gloomy. So what to do? Amaila Falls Hydro Project at full throttle!

The Ramotar administration must set up a tripartite committee of experts from the PPP, APNU and AFC, vested with the authority to oversee this project to the end. Amaila is not a PPP thing, it is a Guyanese thing, and all Guyanese must be given an opportunity to put their brains and shoulders to the wheel to deliver Amaila.

Leaving Amaila in PPP hands alone is a guarantee of non-delivery of the project by 2016. The Ramotar administration has to clearly define the objectives of our energy policies and use them to shape our energy future. Silence and lethargy are not an option.

The investment needed for a clean energy future must be made one of the highest priorities by President Ramotar. The more the President is being seen not to be working with the majority opposition on this project, the greater the political uncertainty. The outcome? The current price tag of $167 billion can easily escalate to $200 billion (US$1 billion). Can we afford that?
The people cannot afford political grandstanding from the PPP on our energy security, since the outcome will just be more financial misery and greater poverty in our homeland. That is why it is imperative that in the nation’s best interest there should be tripartite leadership on the Amaila project and all other projects that will bring major advances to our homeland.

The Amaila Falls Hydro Project is a pre-requisite to accelerated economic development in Guyana. Some may argue that Amaila is not the answer to Guyana‘s energy needs. However, the empirical evidence and projections clearly prove otherwise – Amaila is critical for Guyana’s economic take-off and sustainable human development.

Today Guyana spends some $82 billion on fuel imports every year, with some $22 billion of this amount purchased exclusively for electricity generation using very antiquated, energy intensive processes. The end result – financial and energy waste every single second in Guyana. Thus no political force in their right mind will want to undermine Amaila; this project is good for Guyana.

The Ramotar administration must make it its business to care about designs, contractual obligations, timelines, and deliverables. Contractors must be held accountable and responsible for the timely deliverables of what we the people are paying for; no more Skeldon Sugar Factory fiasco. The only beneficiary politically from such initiatives will be the Ramotar administration.

After 20 years, these hydro-power assets will all belong to the people of Guyana and if one is to observe the Ilha Solteria Dam in Brazil, it still stands tall some 40 years after commissioning, producing some 17.9 billion KWh of electricity annually.

Amaila can also be standing tall 40 years from now, but we all have to be fiscally responsible and sensible to see this through to the end. As an immediate casualty, if Fip Motilal has to go, then let him go, but the road must be completed and fast, since it is way behind schedule.

Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FM
Where is the documentation of Mr Motilall’s road-building experience?

Posted By Stabroek staff On October 21, 2010 @ 5:01 am In Letters | No Comments

Dear Editor,

In response to your news article, ‘Synergy clearing road site,’ (October 19), I want to challenge your newspaper as well as all other private media houses to sharpen focus on this entire project, starting with this road for which Mr Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall was awarded US$15.4M from public funds to construct.

From the time this road project was awarded to Mr Motilall earlier this year, the public has yet to receive convincing documentation of his trumpeted road-building experience in Florida and Georgia, and what is worse, the government does not seem to care.

If there is any entity that deserves to come under intense scrutiny in this project, it is the Jagdeo government, because whatever questions we have about Synergy should actually be directed to the government, which had an association with Mr Motilall before this year’s announced awarding of the road project.

Thanks to Kaieteur News, last July we saw a copy of a 2006 Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by Mr Motilall, Prime Minister Mr Samuel Hinds, and then Chairman of the GPL, Mr Joseph Ali for Mr Motilall to build the entire Amaila Falls Hydro Project and not just the road to the power generating facility. And the government appeared unfazed by the embarrassing revelation and continued working with Mr Motilall, who recently stepped out from the shadow of the government long enough to field questions about his company and the project in what some view as a staged interview.

In the interview, Mr Motilall insisted that he had built roads in Florida and Georgia, but as is known with most major construction companies, pictures are taken of projects from start to finish for future public relations and marketing purposes.

So where are the pictures of Mr Motilall’s roads built in Florida and Georgia? I am willing to even settle for new pictures of the roads, identifying their exact locations for easy verification with the Florida and Georgia Departments of Highways.

Editor, how the government can award Mr Motilall US$15.4M even though there is no convincing evidence of his road-building experience is at the core of ongoing questions of the government’s lack of transparency and even reckless disregard for public concerns over projects and deals involving public funds and resources.

In a rather pertinent article by Mr Sharief Khan in the December 19, 1999 edition of the Guyana Chronicle, ‘Corruption laws to cover officers in revenue agencies,’ President Bharrat Jagdeo drew thunderous applause from a gathering of Guyanese in Mr Motilall’s home state, Florida, when he announced plans in 1999 “to wipe out corruption and ensure transparency in [government] departments.”

The Chronicle article continued by noting President Jagdeo reiterated that he intends to “get rid of this [corruption] problem… and everyone in my government would have to conduct their business transparently or they would not have a part in the government.”

“I intend to ensure that all people in public office [declare their assets]… because we have had a history of a lack of transparency and some corruption in government services…” he said as he made transparency in government the theme of his speeches shortly after assuming the presidency in August 1999.

How can the President talk big about assuring transparency in 1999, yet here we are almost two months shy of the eleventh anniversary of his no-nonsense anti-corruption and pro-transparency speech, and there is a lack of transparency in the awarding of taxpayers’ money to Mr Motilall to build a road even though Mr Motilall never provided evidence to the public of road-building experience?

And unlike the President’s Florida speech that specifically targeted Guyanese revenue officers for corrupt practices, today’s corruption is so rampant throughout government that the lack of concerted efforts to stamp out the practice is what is making the public believe the practice is being sanctioned by officials.

I want to reiterate my challenge to private media houses to find ‘creative ways’ to get their own pictures and inside scoops about this road project that so far lacks transparency. It is not enough for us to accept Mr Motilall’s word that “Guyanese would be allowed to monitor the project” or about “persons being allowed to visit the site as long as it was safe.”
Monitor? In an August 4 SN story, President Jagdeo told reporters they could contact Senior Engineer, Mr Walter Willis for information on the road contract. Mr Willis, when contacted, said he could not speak unless he was authorized by the President and that the President had not communicated with him.

Ironically, Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Ltd (NICIL) Winston Brassington has stated that Synergy has significant road-building experience in the US states of Georgia and Florida (SN, August 4). If Mr Brassington was part of the technical team that awarded Mr Motilall the project, then can Mr Brassington produce documentation of the roads Mr Motilall built?

Media houses do not know whether the foreign skills needed for the project have arrived (‘Chinese workers for Amaila road building’ SN, July 24).
Maybe someone needs to give the President a copy of his 1999 Florida speech.

Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FM
quote:
Originally posted by Nuff:
More PPP excuses for mismanagement. These guys love to reward incompetency and what is stranger is they keep repeating the same mistakes.

But this is how they get a kickback of the funding. They award contracts to their cronies who can't produce the final product for a nice fee.


let's jail them and hand over the Job to the APNU people..
FM
quote:
Originally posted by Sase Singh:
Merry Christmas to all the GNI family. Big up even to Albert and his crew. May 2012 give us a time to think more and help Guyana more efficiently. All the best.


What can you do to help build the Dankey kart economy?? Now that jagdeo is gone and you believe in doing things the commie ways, tell us.
FM
quote:
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.

At WHAT point will civil society say "NO MORE!" to this SH!T . . .??
FM
quote:
Originally posted by redux:
quote:
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.

At WHAT point will civil society say "NO MORE!" to this SH!T . . .??


No money for you creeps..
FM
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by redux:
quote:
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.

At WHAT point will civil society say "NO MORE!" to this SH!T . . .??


No money for you creeps..

No offense Rama, but U are stinking toxic waste in addition to being a useless drunk . . . certainly NOT a member of "civil society"
FM
quote:
Originally posted by redux:
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by redux:
quote:
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.

At WHAT point will civil society say "NO MORE!" to this SH!T . . .??


No money for you creeps..

No offense Rama, but U are stinking toxic waste in addition to being a useless drunk . . . certainly NOT a member of "civil society"


You can only speak about yourself, a lowlife coolie who changed his religion to fit in with the negroids.. drunks like yourself are never useful. You always have to hang your mouth at next door neighbour's backyard. May you die for christmas!
FM
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by redux:
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by redux:
quote:
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.

At WHAT point will civil society say "NO MORE!" to this SH!T . . .??


No money for you creeps..

No offense Rama, but U are stinking toxic waste in addition to being a useless drunk . . . certainly NOT a member of "civil society"


You can only speak about yourself, a lowlife coolie who changed his religion to fit in with the negroids.. drunks like yourself are never useful. You always have to hang your mouth at next door neighbour's backyard. May you die for christmas!
How in the world does Amral tolerate your ugly racist comments here? Everyone has a right to rationally assess t heir religious beliefs as it suits them. You are such a cravenly ignorant brute you need a good smack at the back of your stupid head.
FM
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by Nuff:
More PPP excuses for mismanagement. These guys love to reward incompetency and what is stranger is they keep repeating the same mistakes.

But this is how they get a kickback of the funding. They award contracts to their cronies who can't produce the final product for a nice fee.


let's jail them and hand over the Job to the APNU people..
It is not a matter of turning the job over to anyone. It is a matter of the PPP giving an incompetent man a task that the entire world knew in advance he was incapable of doing. I have not seen Motilal in some 34 years but I knew him in school. He was one class above me. He was not a dunce but he is no engineer. He should not have been given he job in the first place.
FM
quote:
Originally posted by D2:
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by Nuff:
More PPP excuses for mismanagement. These guys love to reward incompetency and what is stranger is they keep repeating the same mistakes.

But this is how they get a kickback of the funding. They award contracts to their cronies who can't produce the final product for a nice fee.


let's jail them and hand over the Job to the APNU people..
It is not a matter of turning the job over to anyone. It is a matter of the PPP giving an incompetent man a task that the entire world knew in advance he was incapable of doing. I have not seen Motilal in some 34 years but I knew him in school. He was one class above me. He was not a dunce but he is no engineer. He should not have been given he job in the first place.


I am not arguing with that. It is the handling of the finances that I am worried about, not his engineering skills.
FM
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by D2:
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by Nuff:
More PPP excuses for mismanagement. These guys love to reward incompetency and what is stranger is they keep repeating the same mistakes.

But this is how they get a kickback of the funding. They award contracts to their cronies who can't produce the final product for a nice fee.


let's jail them and hand over the Job to the APNU people..
It is not a matter of turning the job over to anyone. It is a matter of the PPP giving an incompetent man a task that the entire world knew in advance he was incapable of doing. I have not seen Motilal in some 34 years but I knew him in school. He was one class above me. He was not a dunce but he is no engineer. He should not have been given he job in the first place.


I am not arguing with that. It is the handling of the finances that I am worried about, not his engineering skills.
Were they choice made well to begin with the matter would not have come up. If you do nor rake care of the little things; especially the procedural things, you compound your problems and cannot take care of the big ones, ie failure and waste in this instance.
FM
quote:
Originally posted by D2:
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by D2:
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
quote:
Originally posted by Nuff:
More PPP excuses for mismanagement. These guys love to reward incompetency and what is stranger is they keep repeating the same mistakes.

But this is how they get a kickback of the funding. They award contracts to their cronies who can't produce the final product for a nice fee.


let's jail them and hand over the Job to the APNU people..
It is not a matter of turning the job over to anyone. It is a matter of the PPP giving an incompetent man a task that the entire world knew in advance he was incapable of doing. I have not seen Motilal in some 34 years but I knew him in school. He was one class above me. He was not a dunce but he is no engineer. He should not have been given he job in the first place.


I am not arguing with that. It is the handling of the finances that I am worried about, not his engineering skills.
Were they choice made well to begin with the matter would not have come up. If you do nor rake care of the little things; especially the procedural things, you compound your problems and cannot take care of the big ones, ie failure and waste in this instance.


I am quite aware of the little things that adds up to spell disaster.
FM
quote:
Originally posted by Ramakant_p:
. . . a lowlife coolie who changed his religion to fit in . . . May you die for christmas!

Heh Heh Heh! . . . I need the entertainment, especially since I've been laid up this holiday with a bad cold.

BTW, denizens of dalitdom in this life (that means U) should be careful with the nastiness they wish upon others at this holy time.
FM

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