The drive to provide adequate electricity supply to the hinterland will soon see several communities benefiting from improved electricity distribution. Kato in Region Eight is one of those communities which will soon benefit from a mini hydro plant.
This is according to the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, who told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that he has recently approved the extension of the power grid from Kato to Paramakatoi. He said “it’s progressively being done so by the end of 2018 early 2019 Kato, Paramakatoi and other surrounding areas will be powered by the mini hydro.”
The Ministry has received US $2.5M funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund. Minister Patterson noted that the designs for this project are completed and the Ministry is now in the procurement process of securing a suitable contractor.
The hydropower plant will use the Kato Waterfalls at the Chiung River (close to Kato village) to provide about 320Kilowatts of electric power. The electricity will be administered to the Kato Secondary School, the village of Kato and the 18 Kilometers distant village of Paramakatoi.
Meanwhile, for electricity distribution in other hinterland communities, Minister Patterson explained that currently there are no major challenges except in Lethem. The poor road conditions make it difficult to transport diesel into the community.
“They have fuel for another two weeks and the contractors are onboard to repair the road. That is the only challenge, Mahdia has no problems, Port Kaituma is still being serviced ok, Kwakwani has no issues at the moment so they are all receiving electricity,” Minister Patterson pointed out.
The Minister emphasised that his Ministry is intensifying efforts to ensure that, as far as possible, all hinterland communities receive an adequate supply of electricity.
