Lethem businesses eye Brazilian power
Stabroek News
March 26, 2004
Businesses in the Lethem area are not too keen on waiting for the government to fix the Moco Moco Hydropower Station, which could take a year at best.
They are looking across the border to Brazil and how they could tap into private power companies.
A joint commission has been set up by the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) and its Boa Vista counterpart to look at the option and other issues affecting the business communities separated by the Takutu river but having much in common.
The hydropower station which supplies Lethem, St. Ignatius, Culvert City, Tabatinga, Moco Moco village and the Moco Moco settlement in the region, has not been in operation since July last year, when it was damaged by landslides.
Chinese engineers recently conducted tests and the earliest that the station can be reactivated is in one year at a cost of US$500,000. A safer design to guard against any future landslides would cost even more, at US$2.5M and would take longer.
"We certainly have to look at alternatives to the hydropower if the issue of the hydro station will not be resolved within a year at minimum," says GAP/WPA parliamentarian Shirley Melville. She has been one of the advocates for accessing power from Brazil, an option which she thinks needs to be looked at seriously.
Since the power station was damaged, businesses have suffered losses as a result of the contingency efforts. Generation is now being substituted by a 375 KVA generator which provides a supply for 12 hours a day.
And President of the Rupununi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Alfred Ramsarran says, "Even if the hydropower station is repaired it only produces a maximum 250 KVA...if Lethem expands - as is anticipated with the completion of the Lethem to Georgetown road - it will be inadequate."
Some areas have experienced outages during the dry season and it is believed that the station may not be able to sustain the substantial development envisaged including an industrial estate.
Ramsarran says there have been moves to access power from the hydro-electric project at Guri Dam in Venezuela, which already powers Bom Fin, less than a mile away from Lethem.
But while on paper this is feasible it would probably require a multilateral agreement between the governments of Guyana, Brazil and Venezuela. Given the sensitive political issue and the speed with which such matters come to light it would be many months if not years before that would happen.
But another option would be contracting private power firms to substitute generation to the region. Some areas in Brazil that are not powered by the Guri Dam Station are powered by private firms and the joint chamber of commerce commission has proposed to meet with a private company to examine how it could be done.
One company has indicated that it can set up operations within forty days to provide a full 24-hour supply but businesses would have to pay for the rental of generators and the fuel supply. There are also discussions on a consortium buying a generating plant.
The cost of the power is still the main issues and that is still being looked at.
Meanwhile, the chamber had asked the Mekdeci Machinery and Construction(MMC), which is responsible for the Mabura-Lethem road to waive the $25,000 toll on fuel trucks which use the Kurupukari crossing.
Ramsarran says MMC has agreed to waive 30% of the toll for the pontoon, if the region agrees to assist in the grading of the road [between Lethem and Mountain Point near Annai] twice a year.
Electricity in the region, described as inadequate, is now supplied from 6 am to 1 pm and from 6 pm to 1 am in the morning, although the Lethem Power Company had been experimenting with an 18-hour supply.
Prime Minister Sam Hinds had promised the villages a new generator during a visit right after the damage to the power station but this has yet to materialise. In November, the government said that the Prime Minister had bought a new generator with funds approved by the Cabinet.