President Irfaan Ali (left) during the tour of the airport. (Office of the President photo)
September 22 ,2020
President Irfaan Ali yesterday declared that his government will only accept the US$138m CJIA expansion works as was outlined in the original contract.
He made this declaration at the Cheddi Jagan Inter-national Airport, Timehri in the presence of China’s Ambassador to Guyana Cui Jianchun, according to a statement from the Office of the President.
China has provided financing for the project which is yet to be completed despite substantial works beginning in 2012 under the Donald Ramotar administration and continuing for five more years under the David Granger administration. China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) was also selected by China to undertake the project
There have been frequent disputes over what was to be included in the project and who altered plans.
Also speaking in the presence of representatives of CHEC, the Project Consultant and the Project Manager, Ali said: “I am holding everyone responsible; the contractor, the consultant, the project management team…this is not acceptable for the Guya-nese 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”.
He made the declaration following an update from the Project Manager of the CJIA Expansion Project, Carissa Gooding.
During the presentation, the statement said that Gooding along with the project consultant failed to answer key inquiries as posed by Ali, which included the outline of the original contract, and the details of the revised scope of works and costs attached.
In addition, Ali sought clarification on what grounds the decision was taken to omit aspects of the project. Gooding said that aspects of the airport expansion were downplayed and omitted while monies were diverted to other elements of the project.
“We need answers as we have decisions to make,” Ali stated.
The representative of CHEC also informed the Head of State that after the contract was signed; there were other works which needed to be done following an assessment.
“No, no this is a fixed-price contract, and that is not how it works. A fixed-price contract means that you examine all the works which have to be done before you sign on to the contract. So please, let’s get that clear,” Ali said.
The statement said that the original contract would have seen the completion of 17,000 square feet of work, but currently only 6,000 square feet exists – a difference of 11,000 square feet. In addition, key aspects of the project were either omitted or poorly completed.
This had been disputed yesterday by former Minister of Public Works David Patterson in a letter to this newspaper.
Ali said that an investigation is likely to be launched into the entire airport expansion project. He also pointed to the importance of a joint approach for the completion of the project. He maintained that the works completed do not reflect the monies spent.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Ambassador, agreed that the provisions in the original contract have to be honoured. He pointed to the importance of the meeting and pledged that he will play his part to ensure that the project is completed.
Following the project update presentation, the Head of State along with the representatives from the Cheddi Jagan Inter-national Airport and CHEC toured the facility to inspect several areas including the departure area and an air bridge.
As part of the original contract, the CHEC was expected to tear down the existing terminal building, and construct a new one which could accommodate eight air bridges. But what the contract actually did was facilitate the refurbishing of the terminal building and installation of only four air bridges. There are also a myriad of other issues plaguing the facility including a malfunctioning sewerage system, the statement said.
The contract for the CJIA project loan was signed in great secrecy in 2011 under President Bharrat Jagdeo.
While the total figure for the project was US$138m, it had later been claimed that to meet all of the requirements, the cost would rise significantly. Decisions were later taken to taper what had been intended.
For a clear picture, observers say both the Ramotar administration, the Granger administration and the CJIA and CHEC would have to provide the paper trail showing how and when changes were made to the original plan.
CHEC has been repeatedly criticised for not completing the project and should have had substantial penalties applied against it.