MINISTER of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, has stated that the high cost of sand filling incurred from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project is as the result of poor planning by People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

He had cause to clear the air on the matter as he noted that misinformation has been circulating in the media for some time, which the PPP are seeking to capitalise on. The Public Infrastructure Minister primarily called out the Kaieteur Newspaper as a culprit of spreading misinformation on the topic.

He noted that it is unfortunate that the newspaper, though provided with exclusive access to all areas of the project and all possible documentation, still arrives at “strange conclusions”.

As such, in a recent release, he provided a summary of the great financial challenge the government encountered in 2015, when it took up the CJIA expansion project from the PPP.
At that time, almost 35 per cent of the monies were already expended and the contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), had claims for over US$44M.

If successful, it would have meant that the government would have paid US$90M for less than seven per cent of the actual work. The contract for the extension of CJIA was signed on November 11, 2011 between the former the Ministry of Public Works and Communications and CHEC.

Patterson reminded that at the time of the contract signing, there were no feasibility studies; soil investigations; site surveys; preliminary reports or detailed studies conducted. And, despite the absence of these crucial documents, a contract sum and the general scope of works were agreed to.

Patterson said that actual construction works on site did not commence until January 16, 2013 – an entire 15 months gap between commencement and the signing of the contract.
He added: “Note that the Supervising Consultants MMM group Limited in association with CEMCO did not commence their supervision until July 1, 2014, which meant that CHEC worked for over 18 months without independent supervision.”

The contract signed by the then government also allowed for the provision of sand, free of cost, to the contractor within a 12km radius of the project. It also bounded the government to paying US$3.115 per cubic metre for the “exploit and transportation of sand” for the project.

“Soon after commencement of the works in 2013 the soil conditions in the proposed North East runway was found to be unsuitable; something that could have been discovered if studies were executed before the signing of the contract,” the minster began, adding:
“The decision to also extend the runway in the South West direction was taken by the then PPP Government since 2013. This decision resulted in additional excavation and sand filling.”

By 2018, with almost 35 per cent of the monies for the project already expended, the government was presented with a narrow set of options.

These included abandoning the project therefore losing all investment and risking a possible court case; allocating approximately US$35M more to project to make up for poor preliminary planning and execution or complete the project within the allocated contract sum.

Following Cabinet deliberations, the government opted for the latter.
Moving forward, the government ensured that it stuck to the guidelines that the contract sum would remain at the same level; the runway would be completed to international specifications; terminal buildings would adequately accommodate the projected passenger increases and no unnecessary residents of Timehri North would be removed.
According to Patterson, the PPP had planned to move over 2000 residents as part of the expansion program.

“Despite the accusations of KN, the decision to allow extra sand filling plus the cost payable for the sand was all taken by the PPP government – thus the volume of sand filling required moved from 4.4M cubic metres to 10.1M cubic metres – this is due to the fact that the South West section is at a lower elevation than the North East. The cost per cubic metre was also determined by my predecessor,” Patterson said.

He chastised the Kaieteur Newspaper for its publication of “erroneous articles” which have since created confusion in the minds of Guyanese. The minister also affirmed that his team has worked hard to salvage the airport expansion project within the existing constraints and is proud of the outcome and the benefits for the country.