8 news
saturday, september 28, 2013| guyanatimesGY.com
US$32M generator sets arrive – to be installed at Vreed-en-Hoop by month-end
P
rime Minister Samuel Hinds, along with Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Chief Executive Officer Bharat Dindyal, on Friday visited the John Fernandes Wharf to inspect a US$32 million, five-component Wartsila generator set which is expected to be installed at the 26-megawatt Vreed-en-Hoop power station by next month-end, and become fully operational by April 2014. The engines have a capacity of 8.6 megawatts each and will be contributing to the Demerara system, and eventually, Berbice and part of the East Bank Essequibo system, and will be moving from an 80-megawatt capacity to about 106 megawatts. “There is where the money goes and what the money is required for, and this money in the first instance should come from the electricity bills that people pay over the period of time,” said Prime Minister Hinds. Guyana has always had very good experiences with the Wartsila units and thus far, there are about 14 16 generating units and as the systems are growing, GPL will be increasing the size of the sets, he told the media.
The Guyana Power and Light's 8.6-megawatt generators at the John Fernandes Wharf on Friday
With these new sets, power generation will be up from 5.5 to 8.7 megawatts, using heavy fuel oil; hence, the Amalia Falls Hydro Power Project is seen as critical to the future of the energy sector, the prime minister stated. “This is why the Amalia project is needed,” Prime Minister Hinds stressed, and with all things taken into account including, fuel, capital investments and oil, the estimate will be about 23 cents per kilowatt per hour.” GPL is looking to have electricity delivered at Sophia at 12 cents per kilowatt hour, and after 10 years, to about six cents. By then the cost of the Amaila Falls Hydro Power would have been paid off and generation down to two cents
per hour. Still hoping He said that government is still hoping that the Amalia project would become a reality. “... I am not accepting that Amalia is not an immediate reality; I am going to go to the people of Guyana and I’m urging that we make it a referendum issue and go to the people of Guyana about it,” he added. Reiterating that the issue is not a political one, but a question of getting power at a cheaper cost, the prime minister acknowledged that he was caught flat-footed with the opposition’s reluctance to the project because Amalia was identified during the People’s National Congress (PNC) ad-
ministration in 1976 as one of the best sites to fill Guyana’s needs. This was also reinstated in another assessment in 1982. “If you look back at the records, we never rejected nothing that the PNC did in those years, just on the basis that it was a PNC thing, we just carried on all of the things that we felt were good for Guyana,” Hinds said. Meanwhile, Dindyal said that in terms of site preparation, the engine’s foundation, the hall and the foundation for the control building and the room for the power station have been completed. Dindyal said that a road was also constructed next to the site with a strong groundwork for the trailers to support the engines. “Most of the critical foundation work is completed and is waiting the piles to be installed… As soon as the engines are sitting on the foundation, assembly work will commence and work will progress unhindered,” Dindyal pointed out. There was also a contract awarded to BK International for the construction of the Vreed-en-Hoop Wharf, and it is hoped that they will commence work shortly and speed-up the process.
Alleged killer of TSU officer appears in court
T
he man who reportedly confessed to killing Tactical Services
Unit (TSU) rank Michael Cumberbatch was on Friday remanded to prison after he
made his first court appearance before Magistrate Faith McGusty to have the charge
of murder read against him. Twenty-eight-yearold Vickram Persaud of La Grange, West Bank Demerara, was not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that on September 23 at North Sophia Squatting Area, Greater Georgetown, he murdered Michael Cumberbatch. An unrepresented Persaud said that he is into poultry rearing and trading. He told the court that he knew nothing about the murder. He stated that not only was he beaten by police officers he has never seen before, but was repeatedly shocked. He also alleged that the police ranks forced him to confess to the crime by assaulting him and telling him what to say. Magistrate McGusty refused bail and ordered that Persaud receive medical attention. The matter stands adjourned to October 17. Cumberbatch, of Lot 111 North Sophia Squatting Area, Greater Georgetown, was gunned down in his home by a man who was armed with a handgun. According to a police statement, the incident occurred around 20:40h. Police said Cumberbatch was at home when he was confronted by someone who was reportedly inquiring about one, “Quacy”. An argument ensued, during which the TSU officer was shot in the chest. The suspect then escaped, the police release stated. The injured man was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Eyew tness Explaining... ...the AFC’s Titanic Khemra Ramjattan is still leader of what remains of the Alliance For Change (AFC). He’s busy doing damage control. Looks like he’s finally realised it wasn’t such a hot idea to have Nigel Hughes explain why the party’s imploding. Kinda like having a convicted paedophile trying to persuade parents that the kiddie school he runs is a great place for them to be. So faced with another departure – this time from right here in Guyana, and in Berbice, to boot – this is what Ramjattan had to say: “If people inside of the party do not want to hold to the course that this ship is on in this political ocean, we will have to say thank you for your services….” Yup! That’s the way the leader sees the exodus from the AFC – which puts the one out of Egypt to shame!! They at least weren’t elbowing people out of the way to get out. But let’s take Ramjattan’s analogy about “ships”, which tries to suggest that the fellas jumping off are “rats”. You know? Like “rats deserting a sinking ship”. But why doesn’t Ramjattan come out clear and say the AFC’s ship is not only sinking (present continuous) but had already sunk (past pluperfect). The action has been done: the AFC is sunk....kaput. And it’s due to his captaincy! But Ramjattan, like most bullies and dictatoriallyminded individuals, misses the point the departees made as they jumped ship. It’s not that they “do not want to hold to the course that this ship (the AFC) is on”, but that in a party that boasts about being more democratic than the democrats, the fellas were never allowed to have a say in deciding the course of the ship! So where’s the democracy? And more to the point, why stay in such a ship? The AFC, as we’ve said before, was just a vehicle to satisfy the egos of a couple of men who wanted to be leader or nothing. Well, they have just that at present – nothing! One, Raphael Trotman, jumped off when he realised that the long knives were always bared for him. He’s now safely ensconced as Speaker – from where he can pontificate and pretend he’s Pontius Pilate The other – Hughes – who dishonourably fell on his sword – was brought back because Ramjattan knows that Hughes knows that he (Hughes) can never again be a contender. So that leaves Ramjattan at the bridge, with the water rising past his neck. ...APNU’s acolyte Before the last elections, Malcolm Harripaul, exPeople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and ex-Rise Organise And Rebuild (ROAR), had an epiphany on the way to Georgetown and joined the People’s National Congress (PNC)/A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). He evidently didn’t hear a voice from the heavens when he had his epiphany – just the memory of David Granger pulling rank on the officer in charge of issuing loans in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and forcing the subordinate to give Harripaul a loan. For Granger’s act of nepotism, Harripaul changed his loyalties. Taking on an individual in the letters pages for criticising the PNC, Harripaul went into a rant on his bête noir, the PPP/C. He has a thing about the PPP/C. Blaming the PPP/C for all the sins of the PNC – “no opposition parties, no elections, no private ownership, no freedom. There was dictatorship and poverty” – Harripaul concluded: “we should say thank God the PNC allowed us the many freedoms it did.” Is this fellow demented? Freedoms? What freedoms? Rigging of elections is freedom to choose your government? Banning of essential foodstuffs is freedom from hunger? Assassination of political opponents is freedom of association? Pleeeeease! ...AFC’s corruption Ramjattan had a busy day. Seems he also explained he’ll be “submitting dossiers on corruption” to the team from the Organisation of American States (OAS) that’ll be visiting Guyana soon. We expect him to submit the details of his contract with Fedders Lloyd, Hughes’ contract with Amaila Falls Hydro Inc (AFHI), and Moses Nagamootoo’s contract with the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). Confession is so good for the soul.