As government yesterday expressed optimism that the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project will be completed for the December 31 deadline as works are on track, it also announced that Chinese contractor China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) has already completed 90 per cent of outstanding issues it agreed to remedy last December.
“The information I have received is that we are ninety per cent there, as of March 19, 2021, which represents significant movement,” Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill yesterday told reporters during a tour and assessment of the ongoing works.
“We anticipate that we will be able to make the December 31st 2021 deadline,” he added while informing that he had met last week with the vice-president of CHEC.
In December, the PPP/C government and CHEC announced that they had reached an agreement on the CJIA expansion project for additional works estimated to cost US$9 million. The agreement stated that CHEC will stand the cost of the additional works.
Some 71 critical issues affecting the airport’s functionality had been listed and made known to the company in order that they be addressed. Both sides agreed that CHEC would be given up to March 31 of this year to complete those works. Of the 71 issues, Edghill informed yesterday, 69 have been completed.
The issues included: fixing of a cracked section of the runway skirt; sealing the floor tiles in the departure area; getting the current four air bridges fully functional or replaced; replacing specified lighting fixtures; fixing doors and modifying others to specific fire codes; fixing the ceiling; fixing the toilets; separating the generator room; and repairing the system to allow for the sewage water to be separated. “The 71 issues were a major concern to President Ali,” Edghill stressed.
Aside from those, the overall expanded works are to be completed by December 31 this year. The deal appeared to be a significant win for the government, which had warned of legal action against CHEC if the defects highlighted were not remedied by December 31st last year.
President Irfaan Ali had also visited the US$150 million project in September last and had expressed dissatisfaction at the state of the project.
“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,” Ali was quoted as saying.
CHEC, in response to President Ali’s statements 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.”
After being written to by Attorney General Anil Nandlall in December informing that government would not accept shoddy work or less than what it had originally agreed for, the two sides came to an agreement and CHEC said that it would stand the costs to complete those works.
When all works are done, government and CHEC said that there will be 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.
The terminal building being extended to provide accommodation for additional commercial space such as food courts and duty-free shops. The extended building will feature a modern airport façade covering the full length of the Departure Terminal.
“The entire front will be transformed. There will be a curtain wall installed of glass; the full length… it is China Harbour’s expense to do that, and wrap the south building so that it can take in the two additional air bridges,” Edghill said.
The additional air bridges, however, will be the government of Guyana’s expense and it not obligated to purchase those from China.
China Harbour Engineering Company have further agreed to rectify and complete all outstanding remedial works within prescribed timelines and Edghill said that the company’s Vice President assured him that “every effort” is being put in to complete the works efficiently. CHEC, according to Edghill, has even had some of its staff who were working on the expansion project at the Pegasus Hotel, transferred to the CJIA project to ensure timely completion.
To facilitate the works, the minister explained that government will also do its part to help strengthen the team.
Pointing to the 2021 Budget which has allocated an additional sum of $2.5 billion to the project, Edghill said that some $1.3 billion of that will go towards “roll-over project” commitments from last year.
The remainder will go towards the construction of the commercial Center for the CJIA; which will have approximately 26 businesses located in the two-story building attached to the departure area. It will include local shops and additional restaurants, General Manager Ramesh Ghir told this newspaper.
Pizza Hut is already operational at the airport and Burger King will be opened by the end of April.
“Some of it is for the commercial center, we have to buy the two air bridges, fix offices… paying consultancy and that sort of thing,” Edghill explained.
Aside from the $2.5 billion, government has to set aside $53 million to repair the airport’s taxiway Charlie, and the international apron, which is damaged from wear and tear.
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.
Edghill said that the people of Guyana need not worry about holding the company accountable since “we are not exposed” to risks where bonds for the project are concerned.
“We have in place full coverage to cover,” Edghill said and noted that US$13.9 is held by government as a performance bond and another US$1.1 million bond is also being held.
