As of June 30th, China Harbour and Engineering Corporation (CHEC) has completed all major works at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), where an expansion project has been underway for almost a decade.
The completion of the major works puts the project in the “practical completion” stage, Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, who holds responsibility for the aviation sector, said during a tour of the facility on Thursday.
“I am happy that today, June 30th, my project engineers have indicated to me that we can offer practical completion certificates and we can get on with this.”
CHEC had undertaken the task to construct a super structure, build a curtain wall, and construct two boarding corridors to accommodate type D and E aircrafts. All these works are reportedly completed.
“What we have so far is all of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing works are in. We are still finalising today some of the testing and commissioning of the works but all of the other aspects in terms of pre-testing were done and we are just tidying up on those but as it is we have reached practical completion for the additional works,” Project Engineer Clarissa Goodings declared during the tour of the facility.
However, Edghill cautioned that construction works will still be visible in some parts of the airport complex, as a local contractor is currently retrofitting the interior super structure to accommodate offices and concessionaires.
“China Harbour I think would have worked much faster and with greater care, than they did before to accomplish this and that must be recognised,” Edghill stated, alluding to the company’s slothful work progress in the past.
The Minister disclosed that the two new air bridges are expected to arrive here in two weeks and will be installed by September. He explained that global shipping constraints have resulted in delays in having them arrive on time.
Additional works are expected to be completed by 2023.
CJIA Chief Executive Officer Ramesh Ghir indicated that the bridges, procured through Total Solutions, will take six weeks to be installed.
With respect to the airport being equipped with the new boarding bridges, Edghill posited that this feature will positively impact commerce.
“In the economies of scale, you can start bringing in bigger aircraft [and] it will also benefit in the terms of the movement of products out of Guyana, the cost of airfreight could go down because with wider body aircraft you can carry more products and of course, in the economies of scale you can control the price.”
The minister expanded by saying that with larger aircrafts coming to Guyana, there will be cheaper airfares.
“Rather than what we know as the regular planes that come to Guyana like JetBlue or American Airlines currently, we could have the wide-body, bigger body aircraft carrying 300 passengers at a time and that is why we insisted on getting those two air bridges,” he said.
As part of the additional works, Edghill informed that they will be tinting the curtain wall and branding it with the colours of the National Flag and the “One Guyana” logo.
China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan, who was also a part of the tour, said she was satisfied at the pace of work executed by CHEC.
She said the company was able to speed up construction despite the challenges in the midst of a global pandemic. Haiyan explained that both sides were able to overcome hurdles and have satisfactory results.
On another note, she indicated China is ready and will be working with Guyana in different sectors to promote development. She pointed out that infrastructure in any developing country can be a bottleneck for transformation to take place.
“Both China and Guyana would like to enhance our cooperation in many fields and infrastructure will be one of the priorities,” the Ambassador said.
Edghill also took a jab at former Public Infrastructure David Patterson, who he claims questioned what initiatives were being used to hold CHEC accountable to complete construction for its June deadline, and said there was leadership and steady interaction to access the progress of the work.
“When we took over government and visited the airport you were seeing something that looked like a house roof and that was something President Irfaan Ali made sure we didn’t have… I am sure that you have seen naysayers, including my predecessor, making all kinds of comments but today he will have to lick his own wounds because he did not believe CHEC would deliver based on the arrangement we made,” Edghill asserted.
He went on to say that the realisation of the infrastructure in place is as a result of “leadership like President Ali and his cabinet. When you have cooperation and understanding and you make good agreements, you get what you want.”
The airport expansion project has been in play since 2013 and missed many deadlines under three successive governments.
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.
While some US$9 million was budgeted for the extended project, the cost has now moved to approximately US$15 million. The entire sum will be covered by CHEC. This newspaper understands that the increased cost of the project is as a result of the global hike in prices for infrastructural commodities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shipping crisis.
Subsequent to taking office, Ali, during a familiarisation visit to the project in September 2020, expressed his dissatisfaction at the state of the project. He told CHEC that they were responsible for the failure to deliver a project of high quality and being able to complete it in a timely fashion.
By December 2020 the PPP/C government and CHEC announced that they had reached an agreement on the CJIA expansion project for additional works.
After being written to by Attorney General Anil Nandlall a year ago 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.
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 31 last year.
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.
Those 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.
“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.”
The works encompassed 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 was extended to provide accommodation for additional commercial space, such as food courts and duty-free shops. The extended building features a modern airport façade covering the full length of the Departure Terminal.
