The government will soon approach the residents living in proximity to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri with a relocation plan.
This was revealed last evening when the third in a series of corruption debates continued on the National Communications Network (NCN). Last evening’s debate focused on the airport expansion project which was awarded to the China Har-bour Engineering Company (CHEC) last year.
The panelists comprised Housing Minister Irfaan Ali, Works Minister Robeson Benn, AFC executive Gerhard Ramsaroop, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Ronald Webster and CJIA CEO Ramesh Ghir. For the second debate in a row there was no representative from A Partnership for National Unity.
As the debate got on track, Ramsaroop questioned the priorities of the government. He stated that the nearby community was allowed to develop to the state where it is today and according to him, while the government knew that there was a plan to extend the airport it did not reinforce the need for 2500 persons to remove from the area.
He said that, “being in plan since 1996 in the National Development Strategy, a community has been developed around that area, persons have become dependent on the economic activities …the PPP/C while I was a part of it was a working people’s party …..you are going to be displacing in excess of 2500 people”.
He asked “have you done a study on how you are going to do it (relocation), at what cost, understanding that those persons’ lives were intrinsically inter-related with the airport”.
He noted that the Dakara Creek runs within the intended expansion site, adding that entities, including Bounty Farms Limited depend on the creek as a source of water. He said that his party is not objecting to the expansion plan but the manner in which it was awarded as well as the downplaying of the negative impacts the project may have on the nearby community and the environment.
Benn said that he has met with residents and members of the business community in the area on a number of occasions to discuss the project. He said his ministry attracted criticism in recent times when moves were made to relate persons from the area and dismantle extensions.
According to Ali, he has discussed the issue of relocation of persons from the area with the Works Minister. He said that the government has never been “irresponsible to remove persons from an area”. He added that there is a development/relocation plan for the area which is being completed. “We are going to be going back to the people, the people must be informed of our plans”, he said. Ghir said that the airport has a record of the number of houses there as well as the population and he noted that it has also addressed the issue of relocation with the community.
Gathering dust
As regards the project the debate heated up when Ramsaroop said that the need for the airport expansion was made known when the NDS was drafted and he noted that it has been a decade since that plan has been gathering dust. He said that given that it was in the NDS there was no objection in principle but he noted the manner in which the contract was awarded.
He said that he was seeking clarity on the subject and that he was not being belligerent, as he said Ali was while attempting to rebut his comments.
According to Ramsaroop, Benn had explained that the government had approached the Chinese in relation to the project but he noted that it was later revealed that it was CHEC who approached government with the expansion plan. He said “in a nutshell this thing came up out of the blue“.
While being interrupted by Ali on the first of several occasions during the debate, Ramsaroop said that there was no feasibility study on the internal rate of return for the airport as well as returns on investment adding that no cost benefit assessment or an environmental impact assessment was done for the project.
He said that there is no record that the award of the project passed through the Economic Services Committee of Parliament, adding that the procurement process was bypassed. He said that it is a loan being offered by the Chinese and it is the opposition’s role to scrutinize to ensure that the people of the country get value for money.
Benn refuted Ramsaroop’s remarks about the transparency of the project. Ali stated that the project is among several which are being worked on by the government and he mentioned the proposed new bridge across the Demerara River as well as the Linden-Lethem road which are under consideration.
He said companies approach the government, some with various proposals and according to him government began discussions with CHEC in 2010. Subsequently he said that the company was given the green-light to examine the pre-feasibility and feasibility studies of the project.
He said a Chinese Vice Premier had visited Trinidad and Tobago to engage Caricom leaders and while making proposals last year to assist in terms of financing for projects, the government arrived at an understanding and arrangement with the Chinese on the airport expansion project.
Ali said that a team was tasked with reviewing project sums on the contract and according to him, the price was reduced from US$183M to US$l38M. He said that in the 20-year financial agreement US$185M will have to be repaid on the loan to the China Exim Bank, adding that if done commercially the cost for the project would have been as much as US$338M.
Cultural change
Meantime, Webster called for a cultural change locally as the project gets on stream He said, “people coming into the airport expect top class service, spotless clean environment. We should concentrate on getting the quality of life of an up to standard environment”.
He said that the PSC supports the project, more so the tourism and manufacturing sector. He declared that the PSC believes that the project is one that will move the country forward.
He added too that it is imperative that the airport runway be extended to accommodate larger aircraft, noting that at the moment it is effectively a risk and needs to be extended as a priority.
To this end, Ghir said that a number of airlines, including Virgin Atlantic Airlines as well as JetBlue Airlines have approached the government to operate here but he noted that their aircraft cannot land at Timehri. He said that there is growth in the sector which requires the need for larger infrastructure.
The single-sourcing manner by which the project was awarded to CHEC came in for criticism as well as the manner in which the deal was made public here. CHEC also recently hit the headlines here after it was revealed that its parent company had been blacklisted by the World Bank.
Cabinet has approved a US$138M design and construction contract with CHEC for the CJIA. The 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.
While the deal was signed in Georgetown it was first announced in the Jamaican press by CHEC.
