The Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) will be closed from December 1 until mid-2018 to facilitate US$6.7 million (approximately $1.4 billion) in repairs to its interior and immediate surroundings.
This was confirmed by several ministers of government last evening. They were informed of this development by way of letters, which were dispatched to them by the Ministry of Telecommunications.
Stabroek News has since been able to confirm that the ACCC falls under the Ministry of Telecommunications. The minister, Cathy Hughes, is currently abroad on official duty.
The scope of the rehabilitation works will raise questions about the facility’s initial construction and its upkeep since it was handed over to the then PPP/C-led government by the government and people of China on February 16, 2006. There have been no announcements of repairs since its construction.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that in a letter, dated October 12, the ministers were informed of the temporary closure of the facility. The rehabilitation works will be a joint initiative been the Guyana and China. The letter did not state how much each government was expected to put towards the project but stated that the funding coming from China will be in the form of a grant.
In addition to meeting the cost of the construction, the Chinese government had also furnished the facility.
This newspaper was told that the temporary closure will facilitate construction of the ground floor, repairs to the roof, replacement of arch glass panels and underground pressure pipes, replacement of concrete driveways and repairs to the entrance gate, which will also be repainted. The lawns of the facility, however, are expected to be available for functions during the closure.
The ACCC, initially named the Guyana International Conference Centre, was built at a cost of US$8 million through a series of grants from China. It features a main conference hall, with a seating capacity of 372 persons, five meeting rooms and a business centre in the adjoining buildings.
The construction of the centre began in September, 2004. It was scheduled to be completed in October, 2005 but was set back by the 2005 Great Floods in January and February that year.
The China South West Architectural Designs and Research Institute designed the buildings and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation was responsible for the construction.
Over the years, the facility has served as the venue for major national and regional functions, like the recent 37th Conference of Heads of Governments of the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
