THERE is unquestionable justification for the expansion project at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri, and Government therefore intends to “persevere against all odds and challenges” in having the project executed.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, yesterday so declared at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing, held as usual at the Office of the President on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive in Georgetown.
The project is “extremely important” among the transformative interventions that have been planned by the administration essentially to provide a more modern facility, he remarked.
Luncheon pronounced on the future of squatters in the airport expansion area when he said they “will have to go,” noting that terms, conditions, and circumstances would have to be worked out. “It’s not a novel task; it’s not insurmountable; it has been done before to allow for public works to be completed as planned.
In this regard, he cited such examples as the Essequibo Coast Road, the Berbice River Bridge, and the Railway Embankment in Georgetown. “In all such cases, residents and homes have had to be moved, and engagements with those who were affected led to solutions at the end of the day.”
The Government Information Agency (GINA) has said that government has approved a US$138M design and construction contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for a project expected to include an extension of the airport runway to a total of 10,800 feet, to accommodate large transatlantic aircraft such as the Boeing 747.
The project also includes construction of a new terminal building, acquisition of eight boarding bridges, and installation of other state-of-the-art equipment, such as elevators, escalators, and x-ray scanners, using three-dimensional technology along with flight information and security monitoring systems.
Once completed, the project would ensure that the CJIA is able to meet the needs of projected traffic for several years into the future, along with becoming a hub for regional and continental traffic.
The expanded facilities are also expected to generate a wide range of economic activities, and create business and employment opportunities for thousands of persons, both in the construction and operation phases of the airport.
“Construction will commence this year, and is expected to take a total of 32 months. This project represents the latest of government’s ongoing efforts to transform and modernise the infrastructural landscape of the country; including (construction of) a four-lane highway to Timehri, which is already under construction,” GINA has said.