With no satisfactory plan submitted by China Harbour and Engineering Company Limited (CHEC) on the troubled US$150 million Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project, action will be taken against the contractor if it is still in default after December 31, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill says.
Edghill told this newspaper that from an inspection report they have identified 215 irregularities, 72 of which must be rectified by December 31.
“To make the redesigned renovated airport practically useable 72 [irregularities] are a must fix now…everything will drop dead on 31st December 2020. After that in keeping with the terms and conditions of the contract the necessary actions will be taken,” the minister asserted.
According to Edghill, the government expects CHEC to deliver on the terms of the contract and give priority to the 72 irregularities.
“There are 72 items that must be fixed, to make what you may want to call the redesigned renovated airport practically useable… Those 72 items are a must fix now,” Edghill stressed.
Asked whether government will be pumping more money into the project, Edghill responded in the negative. He said that for US$150M, the country was expected to receive an airport with eight air bridges, aprons, taxiways and extended runway and other facilities and “that’s what we demand.”
President Irfaan Ali had visited the project site just after taking office and had raised various concerns.
Ali had visited in the presence of China’s Ambassador to Guyana Cui Jianchun. According to a statement from the Office of the President after the visit, Ali had expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the expansion project and said that he would only accept the expansion works as were outlined in the original contract.
“I am holding everyone responsible; the contractor, the consultant, the project management team…this is not acceptable for the Guyanese people. In this current position it is very clear from all that I have seen and heard, and from all the questions asked, it is very clear that something is horribly wrong. The right decision at this moment is that we cannot accept this,” he said.
Sharing the view of the President, Edghill said that they are going to ensure that this country gets what taxpayers are paying for.
The government’s records show a vast variation from the contract with less than half of the agreed 17,000 square metres covered under the original agreement completed, he said.
CHEC, after the statements were made by President Ali, said that it had “paid careful attention to those statements and, on September 29th and 30th, immediately dispatched its Vice President Liu from Beijing and the President of its Americas Division Dr. Zhimin Hu. Since then, CHEC has provided to the Government of Guyana through the Ministers of Public Works and the Office of the President comprehensive updates on the Project, including a revised schedule of works and other outstanding matters as per the present existing contract.”
According to Edghill, the new building built by the company is 7,200 square metres. “They rehabilitated 6,800 square metres. Even if you add the two together, you still have 3,250 square metres [more to go]. And that is if you count the rehabilitated as new and it cannot be counted as new,” he stressed.
Then recently, there were 72 items they were going to fix to make the airport functional, before December 31st [2020]. The 72 items ain’t fixed yet! Then you have an airport, when you approach it, you think it is a warehouse. The whole [exterior] façade in the front there you have to fix… That is supposed to be glass right up to the top,” he said.
Edghill said that it would be dereliction for government to accept the current airport for the cost agreed to as at the end of the day taxpayers would hold the PPP/C government accountable.
“What will the people of Guyana do to me if I or anyone in government accepts that for US$150 million? That is suicide you are committing. The bottom line is they have to get it fixed,” he declared.
“We expect, according to the contract, 17,005 square metres of new terminals. Right now we have 4,000. [We need] an extended runway, taxiways and aprons with capacity for eight standing aircraft, facilities to accommodate eight air bridges, new terminal building, 7,000 square feet, bottom line. Let us get close to that,” he emphasised.
The controversy-ridden project began in January 2013 and has now straddled three governments including five years under the former APNU+AFC administration.
