In wake of corruption allegations levelled against the People’s Progressive Party/Civic administration over its handling of the now-defunct Amaila Hydro Falls Project, former President Bharrat Jagdeo is calling on the government to release pertinent documents which, he says, will dispel cries of skulduggery.
The Amaila Falls Project was the brainchild of Jagdeo.
The project was touted as Guyana’s best hope to achieve clean and cheaper energy – something that the Private Sector has been pushing for since time immemorial.
However, the contract to construct the road was tagged with so much allegations of corruption, that it created a public relations (PR) nightmare for the PPP/C.
Several private businessmen and other members of civil society would have lost faith in the project.
Since the 2015 General Election which saw the A Partnership for Nation Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) taking up the mantle of governance, the project has been placed on the backburner as the regime moves to develop other areas to bolster alternative energy production.
However, the project is being used by the government and in many public discourse regarding alternative energy, as an example of corruption that existed during the PPP’s tenure.
Jagdeo is now calling on the administration to release the Evaluation Report, which outlines the decisions taken by the PPP to award the contract to Fip Motilall – the contractor, whom the Minister Of Finance Winston Jordan said recently, was unqualified to even build a footpath.
Jagdeo is contending that the Coalition government is aware that no skulduggery took place in the arrangement with Motilall, and that the government is not releasing the report because it will prove to the public that it (the APNU+AFC) was wrong.
“I urge the government to come clean on the (Amaila Falls) hydro. Tell us clearly whether we are pursuing the hydro or not, and all of the issues that they had claimed were corrupt – including the Fip Motilall contract…They should release the evaluation report so that the public can decide whether there was any illegality,” Jagdeo said
The Politician’s declaration would come on the heels of an announcement made earlier this week by government to construct several hydro-oriented project in Region Nine (Upper Takatu/Upper Essequibo).
The project will see the Moco Moco Power Plant coming on-stream after lying dormant for some 15 years.
http://www.guyanastandard.com/2018/07/04/mocomoco-hydro-plant-to-be-resuscitated-after-15-years/
