[www.inewsguyana.com] – In reaffirming government’s position on the importance and urgency for the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall is of the view that no country with the ambition to achieve first class status for it citizens can continue to place reliance on fossil fuel for electricity generation.
According to the AG, while there has been a decline in the price of fuel internationally, it cannot be the basis for the reduction of the significance of hydropower to the developmental equation of Guyana.
“Hydropower and every source of power alternative to fossil fuel are essential in today’s world from every conceivable perspective; one from an environmental perspective, from an economic perspective in terms of the fluctuating, and highly unpredictable fluctuation of the price of fuel internationally.”
He pointed out that the quantity of fuel that is available in the world and the fluctuation of price are factors that lead to the conclusion that reliance on fossil fuel as the source of electricity generation for a country cannot be the modern way to go.
“…And Guyana perhaps is the last country to have recognised this. Throughout the Caribbean small countries such as Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts, they have hydropower. Where a waterfall does not exist, one is created to ensure that there is an elevation from which water falls to move the turbine.”
He stressed the fact that Guyana is gifted with perhaps the best potential for hydropower in the region, having regard to the number of waterfalls it has.
Minister Nandlall added that while the combined opposition has rejected this project, to date they have not intelligently outlined to the Guyanese what issues they have with it. He noted that every possible document pertaining to the feasibility of the project was submitted to the opposition members, but nothing has been forthcoming about the rejection of the project. [Extracted and modified from GINA]
