Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill has called on China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to adhere to its timeline for the completion of outstanding works on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
“The new things to be done as well as the old items to be fixed have to be done together and if we find that there are slippages, I will have to make the necessary intervention because we cannot allow for last minute rush,” Edghill was quoted as saying by the Department of Public Information (DPI) at a meeting with CHEC officials at CJIA on Friday. “The Government of Guyana in good faith entered into that agreement with China Harbour Engineering Company and we signed an amicable settlement agreement that requires actions on both parts. We have upheld our end of the bargain as noble and as sincere. As Government, we expect no less from [CHEC],” he added.
The DPI report noted that Edghill’s exhortations follows CHEC’s failure to complete 34 out of 71 critical items by December 31, 2020 as was previously agreed. Only 13 of those items were done by Thursday, January 7, it added, while adding that CHEC has pledged to complete the outstanding 21 critical items by March 31.
The report said CHEC was pressed to submit a resource allocation plan to the government no later than January 31 with details of how it intends to execute its obligations within the agreed timeframes.
Additionally, the report said CHEC was urged to complete the preliminary designs for the curtain walls, a corridor to facilitate the two air bridges and a superstructure for the building at the front of the airport. Preliminary designs for these items are due January 31 and final designs are expected in March.
“We need to have those because we need to get them agreed on [so, we can] start procurement and we start work,” Edghill said. “We know how the long the civil works have been taking you and we can’t have wishful thinking that if we start in October, we will finish by December 31 [2021]. It is not going to happen and we are not going to tolerate it,” he added.
According to the report, Edghill also called for better communication between the contractor, project manager and project engineers, and he said he and the CJIA’s Chief Executive Officer Ramesh Ghir, and the project consultant would meet all parties involved to iron out any issue.
Meanwhile, Edghill said that while there may be challenges at the airport to execute contractual works while the facility is operational, the works must proceed. “There must be somebody who is working closely to ensure there is proper planning ahead of time so we can be able to make the necessary adjustments,” he added.
In December, government and CHEC reached agreement for US$9 million more in works for the CJIA’s expansion, with no additional cost to the country.
The new work comprises: An extension of the airport’s boarding corridor in order to accommodate two more passenger boarding bridges, providing the Airport with a total of six boarding bridges capable of servicing aircraft such as the Boeing 777, Dreamliner, the AirBus and similar trans-atlantic aircraft ; and the extension of the terminal building to provide accommodation for additional commercial space such as food courts and duty-free shops, with the extended building featuring a modern airport façade covering the full length of the Departure Terminal.
Additionally, CHEC has agreed to rectify and complete all outstanding remedial works within prescribed timelines.
The controversy-ridden project began under the PPP/C in 2013 after a secret deal in 2011 in Jamaica and has now straddled three governments, including the former APNU+AFC administration’s term in office from 2015 to 2020.
