He said yesterday that given adequate financing, remedial work to the plant, which supplies power to Lethem and surrounding villages, should be completed within three to six months.

Meanwhile, O’Lall said repairs should be completed on the emergency generator in Lethem by today, at which time power will be restored, given no unforeseen complications.

O’Lall heads a team dispatched to evaluate the damage caused by landslides on the Moco Moco Mountain. It is estimated that a 757-metre area along the power station’s water transmission pipeline was damaged during landslides resulting in the shutdown of the hydropower plant. An additional team of engineers was dispatched to provide technical support to the GEA team and was expected to arrive in Lethem last night.

Asked about the prospects of accessing power from Brazil, as suggested by Guyana Action Party MP Shirley Melville, O’Lall told Stabroek News, “If it appears as though it would take a long time to effect repairs to the damaged sections, there is a possibility that we would engage Brazil for power from Bon Fim.” He added this would have to be organised at the government level between the two countries.

Melville yesterday said that accessing power from Brazil “is [a consideration] which definitely needs to be looked at...” She added that the possibility for the realisation of this option, would be further enhanced with the completion of the Takutu Bridge between Brazil and Guyana. She told Stabroek News this was a logical option especially since it was not envisaged that the Moco Moco station would be able to sustain generation in an environment of developed industry in the area. Further, she said the areas powered by the plant had also been subject to outages during dry spells, a situation which was heightened during the recent drought.

She said it was against this background that local businesspersons from the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry met on Tuesday and the unanimous decision was taken to explore the possibility.

Speaking from Region Nine, O’Lall described the situation as “a natural disaster which could not have been foreseen by any engineer.”

He said the mountain remained unstable with rocks steadily falling and that it was the initial landslide which ruptured a section of the pipeline. This rupture and the intensity of the water pressure caused an acceleration of the slide which resulted in further damage. Engineers, upon learning of the situation, immediately made their way to the top of the mountain to shut off the valves.

Asked about the continuing rains in the area, he credited this as a contributory factor to the instability of the mountain and he said as a contingency to prevent further damage to the pipeline, engineers had removed expansion joints from some sections, “so that if anchors (some of which were uprooted during the slides) fall further downwards there will be no more damage to the pipeline.”

The damage done by the slide, according to a report by Regional Executive Officer Deolall Rooplall, occurred in four sections of the 1,377-metre low pressure water transmission pipeline. This has been thrown off its bases and bent while smaller slides have caused the steps and concrete bases to be uprooted. Roughly 80% of the 975 steps leading to the falls are damaged and have been deemed unsafe.

The hydropower station is located about 20 kilometres south-east of Lethem and serves approximately 500 households in Lethem, St Ignatius, Culvert City, Tabatinga, Moco Moco village and the Moco Moco settlement, which have been without electricity since Monday.