China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), the contractor for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project has confirmed that it has dispatched a letter to A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) Joseph Harmon expressing regret at not meeting Opposition political parties regarding the project and on the concerns surrounding a World Bank sanction.
This was confirmed by CHEC’s Communications Manager Jennifer Armond in a telephone conversation yesterday.
Armond, based at CHEC’s regional office in Kingston, Jamaica, said that the letter was sent to the company’s representative in Guyana Alex Graham of Tagman Bureau for Harmon and then it would be made available to the media. She declined to disclose what else the letter contained.
Harmon writing on behalf of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition on June 29, 2012 expressed dismay that the combined Opposition was not consulted on a recent visit by that company to discuss the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri expansion project in the wake of corruption concerns regarding its parent company.
Harmon in the letter to CHEC said that a full engagement with the Opposition would have ensured a better understanding of the project that could have “conditioned our support for it.” Harmon said that a major opportunity to engage had been missed by the company.
CHEC is one of the 40-odd subsidiaries of China Communications and Construction Company (CCCC) which had been slapped with the World Bank debarment sanction from 2009 to 2017. The airport project includes an extension of the runway to a total of 10,800 feet to accommodate large transatlantic aircraft, along with construction of a new terminal building, acquisition of eight boarding bridges, and installation of other state-of-the-art equipment.
Harmon in his letter said that the Opposition “as representatives of the people” will continue to carefully scrutinise this project and any other project of such scale and magnitude as it relates to infrastructural works in Guyana.
At a press conference last week Thursday, CHEC’s Regional Director for the Americas, Zhongdong Tang said that the company met and had open discussions with some civil society groups, including the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and the Private Sector Commission.
Tang said however that it was not possible for CHEC to meet with all groups on this visit and said that the company will continue to be engaged with various stakeholder groups of the Guyanese society, including residents living near the airport.
Officials of the company revealed at the press conference on Thursday that they have not been officially informed of the Guyana Government’ s review of the World Bank’s debarring of its parent company China Communications and Construction Company (CCCC) and all of its subsidiaries from participating in projects funded with World Bank funds.
The Office of the President last month said construction would not get underway until the conclusion of a review of the World Bank sanction against CCCC. However, preparatory work is continuing on-site for the US$138M expansion project.
