Forest fires threaten Moco Moco hydro project Stabroek News March 26, 1998 Raging forest fires are threatening the Moco Moco Hydropower project in Region Nine, impeding work on the project slated to be completed by August. A Guyana Information Services (GIS) press release yesterday said the spreading conflagration had been reported to Local Government Minister Harripersaud Nokta. According to the release, Nokta said he was informed of the situation by the Regional Executive Officer, Diyaljee Persaud, and this was confirmed by engineer of the project, Maxwell Jackson. When contacted yesterday, the minister said the regional authorities were monitoring the situation. He said equipment, including dynamite and fuel, had to removed from the site and workers evacuated. Nokta said he understood that trees will be bulldozed in an effort to stop the flames from spreading any further. However, the release said, "this will prove to be an immensely difficult task since the mountains are high and the terrain is very wide." The GIS said that Region Nine was the hardest hit by the prolonged dry season and the forest fires in that area were worsening. Earlier this month, Head of the Guyana National Resources Agency, Joseph O'Lall, had said the hydropower project should come on stream by August and they were putting together the final stages. The US$3 million project is being carried out under an economic and technical programme negotiated between the governments of China and Guyana. Meanwhile, government team was scheduled to meet United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representatives yesterday to explore the possibility of Guyana receiving assistance in fighting forest fires. A UNDP official said the UNDP was ready to support the efforts to combat the situation and to organise the donor community to render additional assistance if necessary. But he said that the situation must be evaluated first to determine how many areas were affected before external help was called upon. He said the expertise available locally could be utilised to identify the areas but UNDP could assist in acquiring satellite images as another option.