…Luncheon says delay will not hamper financial closure for Hydro projectWith the US$15.4M Amaila Falls Road project which was handed to Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall and Synergy Holdings Inc being delayed by several months Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon is still insisting that financial closure for the Hydro Electric Project will not be affected by the delay.The road is to pave the way for the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project which has seen estimates increase from US$450M to a staggering US$835M.Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon told this publication recently that the financial closure has not been made as yet “and there will continue to be opportunities to synchronize the road conclusion and the beginning of the hydro construction.”The beginning of the substantive project in the form of the Hydro Electric project depends on financial closure which has not occurred as yet.“So we are not locked in,Jerseys NFL Cheap,” Dr Luncheon stated while illustrating his point explained that should there have been a drop dead date such as February 2nd,Cheap Jerseys From China, then there would have had to be financial closure by then.“The completion of the road is not linked to financial closure…Financial closure depends on the parties involved; Government,Cheap NFL Jerseys Online, those who are financing,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, those who are constructing agreeing on a financial package to get the work done … the road is not included in those considerations.”He explained that the road is a ‘vehicle’ to ensure that when the construction (of the Hydro-Electric project) starts it is not encumbered by access difficulties …”so there is a bit of a room, there is a bit of possibility for some movements to take place.”Dr Luncheon, during his most recent post Cabinet press briefing disclosed that the new completion date for the road project is now March or April in 2012.It has now been agreed by Motilall, the consultants and the Government of Guyana that sections of the road will have to be sub-contracted out to other companies to speed up the works.As it relates to the percentage of the US$15.4M paid over to Synergy Holdings Inc for works already completed, the official was unable to say but promised to make that information available.Dr Luncheon was also unable at the time to say how much of the road has been completed.Motilall had earlier this year promised to take media operatives to the interior to view the progress of the road but that never materialized.Dr Luncheon had himself conceded that the Road Project is hopelessly behind schedule and the suggestion was there for him to contract out the components ever since then.Dr Luncheon had even suggested that Motilall should be very worried because the design of the contract stipulates stringent penalties.“The penalties are quite significant and will be enforced for not meeting the drop dead date.”Senior Engineer at the Ministry of Public Works, Walter Willis, at that time had told this newspaper that there were no delays as such but rather lost days which had to be given back to the contractor.Willis said the first notice to proceed was given in October 5, for some sections of the road. On January 11 the next notice to proceed was issued and this section entailed virgin forest.The breakdown of the project awarded to Synergy Holdings Inc states that the upgrade of 89km of road will cost US$3.9M; the 110km of virgin roadway, US $7M, the two pontoon crossings or a bridge will be US$1.5M and ‘T’ line clearing is said to be US$3M.Hand in Hand Group of Companies is the company that has backed Synergy Holdings Inc. with the US$3M mobilization and security bonds which were a prerequisite to securing the recently awarded Amaila Falls Road contract.The road that Synergy Holdings is building is to pave the way for the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project which is described as just part of a larger effort to revolutionise Guyana’s power generation infrastructure.The storage dam site would be located near the top of Amaila Falls and would impound the waters of both the Kuribrong and Amaila Rivers.The Amaila site is located on the Kuribrong River,Sale NFL Jerseys, a tributary of the Potaro River in West Central Guyana. The nearest point of access is the airstrip at Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River,NFL Jerseys Clearance, approximately 15 miles to the south.An overland trail exists from Kaieteur to Amaila. Access is also provided overland by an all-weather road through Tumatumari on the Potaro River and on to Mahdia and Kangaruma.River access along the Potaro-Kuribrong Rivers to the foot of Amaila Fall

The US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested embattled founder of EZjet Air Services Inc., Sonny Ramdeo.Kaieteur News was told that agents zeroed in on him Tuesday evening in New York after weeks of wire fraud investigations.At the time of his arrest, Ramdeo was reportedly speaking to a senior official of EZjet’s Guyana office on Skype, a video call that uses the internet.It is unclear at this time whether this was how the FBI managed to track him.Arrested: Sonny RamdeoYesterday, management of the local office in Brickdam,Cheap Sports Jerseys, Georgetown, was set to meet with staffers to discuss the implications of Ramdeo’s arrest but this was postponed.Local staffers yesterday confirmed that they were told of Ramdeo’s arrest but said that they learnt that he was held yesterday and not Tuesday.EZjet was suddenly suspended from flying last month by the US’s Department of Transportation after Swift Air, an Arizona-based aircraft company,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, complained that the low-cost charter owed them a significant sum of money. Guyana, Trinidad and Toronto,Wholesale China Jerseys, Canada also issued similar suspension actions.Ramdeo, who lived in Florida, had reportedly been on the run since early November as US investigators started probing complaints that he allegedly stole US$5.4M from his employer, Promise Healthcare, and passed it through the accounts of EZjet.He had also owned a payroll company that managed salary payments for Promise which runs 11 hospitals in the US. The accusations are that he would have illegally diverted the payroll money to the bank accounts of two companies.The monies, according to a lawsuit filed by Promise Healthcare against Ramdeo and EZjet, were stolen within the last three months.Ramdeo had denied that he had been on the run but admitted that he was “engaging” the FBI regarding the allegations.However, the official,Wholesale China Jerseys, a former villager of Windsor Forest,wholesale nfl jerseys, West Coast Demerara, has not been seen since last month in Guyana. EZjet officials in New York where the company had a ticketing office, also said that he has not been seen there.Yesterday,NFL Jerseys China, Country Manager of EZjet, Rosalinda Rasul, did not respond to calls and emails. A visit to the Brickdam offices found that she was too “busy” to meet with reporters. She was reportedly meeting with local travel agents.EZjet became a household name since starting last year December with its low-cost flights.This was more so for the many burning questions over its source of financing and its seemingly “impossible” low ticket costs.The company had denied persistent rumours that former President Bharrat Jagdeo and his close friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, who manages Queens Atlantic Inc, had shares in EZjet.The company had also downplayed the fact that Rasul had been a senior official in Queens Atlantic shortly before EZjet’s arrival in Guyana.EZjet had been spending big on advertising to a market of travelers who more than welcomed the low costs.The company closed its New York office leaving passengers unsure how they will get back hundreds of thousands of US dollars.Earlier this week, EZjet criticized Government over its decision to grant Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flag carrier status, and vowed to return to full operations by Easter next year.EZjet said that it has found investors.It had made no secret that it may have been interested in the status which allows an airline a number of lucrative concessions in the host country.In Guyana, EZjet is claiming that it owes stranded passengers $38M with 300 passengers still to get refunds.The company said that it flew more than 500 New York flights since it started last December, transporting two-thirds of the passengers travelling the route with Guyana.Government had said at the time of EZjet’s suspension last month that there may have been some 25,000 to 30,000 advance bookings for the months of November and December 2012.

The process that was used in the selection of previous Presidents, Dr Cheddi Jagan,Wholesale Jerseys China, Mrs Janet Jagan and the current President Bharrat Jagdeo,China Cheap Jerseys, will be used to select the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate for the next General Elections.The PPP, in a statement,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, disclosed that the document, which was recently ratified,Wholesale Jerseys China, reinforces the Party’s long-standing and tested procedure on the selection of a Presidential Candidate.The party further revealed that the procedure allows for nomination/expression of interest by interested individuals,Cheap Jerseys China, deliberations at the level of the Executive Committee,NBA Jerseys China, and subsequent approval by the Central Committee. The approved Candidate will then be announced to the membership through Regional Conferences.Further the document outlines a code of conduct which potential Presidential Candidates and their supporters must adhere to before and after the selection of the agreed on Presidential Candidate.

Relatives of the late murder accused Chris Primus continue to ask questions about his death even as investigators await results of a post mortem examination on his body.Primus, 20, allegedly hanged himself in the lock-ups at the Bartica Police Station,Cheap Jerseys China, two days after he was rearrested on a murder charge.Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death with emphasis on how he managed to obtain a rope while in the lock-ups. Normally prisoners are stripped of anything that they could use to commit similar acts on themselves or any other inmate.This newspaper was reliably informed that Primus used the rope from his hammock which was allowed into the cell by ranks at the station.One source revealed that prisoners coming from prison to attend court would normally carry their hammocks into the cell.Police in a press statement on Sunday said that two other prisoners who were in the same cell with Primus related that they were asleep and did not hear anything.Chris PrimusThe matter against Primus was discharged on Friday last by Magistrate Haymant Ramdhani at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court for want of prosecution,China NFL Jerseys, following several lengthy adjournments.But minutes after Primus walked out of the courtroom, he was rearrested by the police, pending the reinstitution of the murder charge.Yesterday, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud told this newspaper that it is quite normal for the police to re-arrest murder accused whose matters have been discharged in the magistrate’s court, without the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions.He explained that this is done to ensure that justice is properly served,NFL Jerseys China, since time is the important factor and the accused are likely to, or can possibly, escape prosecution.According to the Crime Chief, Primus’ case was not one in which the police did not have evidence,Cheap Wholesale Jerseys, but one in which two of the witnesses did not turn up.“Under the circumstances, we re-arrested him,” Assistant Commissioner Persaud explained.Primus, who hailed from Moco Moco in Region Nine, was accused of the August 29, 2010 murder of Sylvester Simon at Apaikwa Landing, Enachu.Simon,Cheap NFL Jerseys, of St. Ignatius, Lethem, was stabbed to death and two others wounded during the fracas.Meanwhile, Primus’ uncle,Jerseys China Wholesale, Alton Primus, related that although the murder accused appeared frustrated, at no time did he give a hint of the action that he eventually took.“I told him to bear up. He did not indicate that he would have taken his own life. Most people cannot believe it,” Alton Primus told Kaieteur News.He said that he managed to break the news gently to Primus’ grandparents, 111-year-old Sonny Hendricks and his 98-year-old wife.According to Alton Primus, while Guyana’s oldest man has taken the news quite well, his wife has not.“His grandmother wants to give up. She said that her life is not worth it anymore,” Alton Primus told this newspaper.