By Sase Singh in Washington, DC

THIS nation is about to go through some tumultuous change in the way we do business. We had 50 years during which allegiance to political strongmen/woman was the status quo, but that model failed miserably. We have, by and large, squandered the last 50 years.

Today we have a chance to mold the next 50 years using a different governance model; we must not fail our people this time around. With the right vision, at the end of 10 years, a new generation will grow up and be ready to take over from this generation as we all march forward in an environment of national cooperation.

That is why it is so important that the ordinary people not blindly follow leaders anymore. Good public action must be commended; bad public actions must be rejected. The Granger/Nagamootoo Administration made a great start with this pro-poor and pro-working class 2015 budget and these progressive positions must not be allowed to slip.
Guyanese must become watchmen and speak up when they see financial skullduggery. It is the patriotic thing to do. We must speak up or perish. No more blind puppetry from major stakeholders, be it the private sector or the religious leaders.

It was encouraging to observe that some $97 billion was targeted on current and capital expenditure for the last four months of 2015. This is an ambitious intervention that demands every Guyanese stay militant and alert; backward never. If we say we will close the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) Expansion Project by the second half of 2017, then let us hold that minister and his Technical Team accountable to this deadline, since the expectation is that all possible delays are designed into the time-line.
“This time nah Jagdeo time”; where slippage after slippage were allowed to occur on the big projects without any proper explanation from the Project Managers. Remember the Hope Canal Project? Delays cost money; taxpayers’ money. In most of these cases, these capital works are being carried out with borrowed funds that were sourced in the name of the people. Never again should we allow any minister to spend on top of a proposed budget without a clear justification. Ministers and Project Managers should be relieved of their duties when major bungles happen, such as the Amaila Hydro bungle (under the Ramotar Administration). Running a country is not a karaoke session.

CJIA EXPANSION PROJECT
Many eyes are on the CJIA Expansion Project. The extension of the runway to 10,800ft must be welcomed, since it has the ability to make air travel to and from Guyana much more affordable and accessible. Also the expansion of the cark park, the provision of new navigation equipment and the construction of a commercial mall are all great ideas to retrofit the CJIA as a viable air-gateway. With this runway extension, the CJIA will be upgraded to a category 4E runway. Such a runway, at minimum, can safely accommodate a 747-400 aircraft (jumbo jet).

The refurbishment of the terminal, however, is a real sticking point and I continue to be unconvinced as to the rationale for this investment. The Communications and Technical Team at the Ministry of Infrastructure should better explain why they have agreed to refurbish this terminal and inform the nation on the details accordingly. To make my point, in 2004 with an IDB loan, the basic physical infrastructure at the terminal was upgraded with several critical improvements. These improvements included a totally new lighting system, brand new sewage system, complete overhaul of the roofing including a totally new and expanded arrival terminal, the rehabilitation of the control tower and so on. Thus, I am very puzzled as to the motivation behind refurbishing this terminal.

The highest priority for the CJIA today is an extension of the main runway; FULL STOP!

AIR TRAVEL CAPACITY
The fact that the CJIA is basically a termination point on most flights continues to cut Guyana out of the mainstream travel market and thus solidly justifies an extended runway. Our role as a serious transit terminal for international flights continues to be miniaturised because of the lack of a long enough runway. So hopefully, we will be able to attract more flights to the CJIA, with the extended runway.

There are less than 10 international airlines currently servicing the facility every day, although we are so favourably placed geographically. If one looked at the schedule for August 11th, 2015, one can find several gaps of idle times for as much as one hour where there are no departures or arrivals at the CJIA. Compared to the main Caribbean airports, the CJIA comes across as a sleepy hill station. For Guyana to be taken seriously in the eco-tourism trade, this runway must be completed. The Germans and other intelligent travellers are not keen in stopping all over the place before reaching their destination.

GAC?
On July 21, 2013, Mr Moses Nagamootoo and I did an opinion piece in the Kaieteur News captioned: “Extended Airport Runway a better Option” (see – http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2013/07/21/extended-airport-runway-a-better-option/), which outlined a position at that time. In that piece we argued why it made better sense to only expand the runway and provided evidence on the economic justification for not even touching the current airport terminal. One of the outcomes from that conversation was the call for a re-introduction of a National Carrier (Guyana Airways) to first serve the Guyana/Trinidad route with room for expansion. The objective remains getting people in and out of Guyana as fast as possible, but at a profit. This is still a valid idea in 2015.

THE RISKS
The CJIA expansion project suffered from a fate whereby it was poorly conceptualised in 2011. This situation resulted in an under-designed project. Why spend most of the US$150 million loan if we can avoid any works on the terminal? Was a proper payback analysis done, especially in light of the fact that our Debt to GDP ratio on the aggregated Domestic and External Debt continues to march to 71%? Do we have to spend loan funds on a perfectly good terminal? This situation at the CJIA says much about our country’s ability to take on critical and massive infrastructure and make big decisions.

PROPER ENGINEERING SUPERVISION
A proper international consultant should be hired to further review the updated designs and the current engineering works. This project will need careful monitoring during construction to mitigate the risk associated with this contractor, since its track record is far from exemplary. We cannot afford another Skeldon Sugar Factory-type investment disaster. Hiring this international engineering consultant will be money well spent to cover all the important bases.

THE REALITY
Politicians will have to understand that with the budget soon to be passed, the usual post-honeymoon drag on the Government will step in and ministers will become bogged down in all sorts of implementation matters, especially those that require their urgent attention to stimulate economic growth and improve the well-being of the people. However, we have a “jump start” on this CJIA Project and it is likely to add cumulatively between now to 2017 about 1% to real GDP growth. Thus, managing this project as efficiently as possible remains vitally important so that we can add as much value as we can to the economy.

CONCLUSION
I continue to strongly support the extension of the runway and the abandonment of the terminal building. However, once the revised design is implemented in an open and transparent manner, it should be successful. My biggest worry remains slippage in the total contract value past US$150 million.

Next time I shall be continuing our conversation by sharing my views on the Wage Situation as a result of the National Budget that was read on August 10, 2015.

(The writer can be contacted via email at: sasesin1@yahoo.com)

Guyanese must become watchmen and speak up when they see financial skullduggery. It is the patriotic thing to do. We must speak up or perish. No more blind puppetry from major stakeholders, be it the private sector or the religious leaders.