– Minister Edghill

GOVERNMENT is anticipating the completion and delivery of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project in accordance with the original contract, which was signed by a former People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Government and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), in 2011.

Government’s position was made known by Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, in a statement on Monday, following a missive from CHEC, which highlighted the company’s intent to deliver this project in accordance with the terms outlined in a revised contract.

According to a press release from CHEC, the initial contract for the project, which was signed on November 11, 2011, for US$138 million between Guyana and CHEC, had a specific scope of works to be included in the price and officially started on January 16, 2013.

The contract established that the contractor’s submission of the price had certain conditions, and it excluded the handling of equipment and the removal of the existing terminal, among other things, and specifically established government’s responsibility to supply the equipment for eight bridges and other handling equipment.
During the period January 2013 to May 2015, budget allocations for the project were not approved by Parliament, which prevented the contractor from executing the works as planned.
“Works restarted on the project in May 2015 but were halted when the new administration (APNU+AFC) requested a review of the project and notified the contractor to suspend construction during the review period,” said CHEC.

After the review period ended, both parties agreed to the revised terms, which considered the government’s budget, changes, and claims to the project prior to 2015.
The revised scope of work replaced the new terminal building, parking aprons, and eight boarding bridges – to be supplied by government – with a renovation of and new construction area in the existing terminal building, parking aprons and four boarding bridges, two of which were to be supplied by the contractor and the two by the employer.
Although CHEC said it will work along with government to deliver this project based on the revised scope of works, Minister Edghill, in his statement, said: “For the record, I welcome that public position and look forward for the delivery of the original contract that envisages the 17,000 square meters of new facilities (terminal buildings, an extend runway, taxiways, and aprons with capacity for eight standing aircraft with facilities for eight air bridges…We look forward to a functional modern airport.”

The company said by the end of 2019, the project was 97 per cent complete. But the General and Regional Elections of 2020, coupled with the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, forced CHEC to significantly reduce its workforce, which again affected the project’s completion.

Following the declaration of the elections result in August this year, President Irfaan Ali visited the project site and made several public observations and statements. Glaring inefficiencies and shortcomings in the project had forced President Ali to say that Guyana will only accept work as was outlined in the original 2011 contract and will not accept the unsatisfactory work done so far.

“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,” President Ali had said last month during an inspection of the works at the airport.