The almost one-year old coalition-led administration had ordered that a state-owned hangar at Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) be handed to BK International, but that plan has since been shelved to facilitate the expansion of the airport, according to multiple sources.

The decision to either rent or lease BK International the hangar that was previously in possession of the now defunct private airline, GA2000, was made prior to the installation of the CJIA Board.

Demerara Waves Online News was told that the decision to give BK International possession of the facility was made by a top official of the Ministry of the Presidency. BK International plans to purchaswe a 12-seater executive jet later this year.

A senior official of the CJIA Board said that decision body had nothing whatsoever to do with the initial plan for BK International to take possession of the hangar and that official said he did not know the origin of that decision.

The source, however, said that the CJIA had to decide how to deal with the relocation of services being operated by CAMEX and New Timehri Handling Services.  “They are in the foot-print of the expansion and so we are temporarily relocating them to facilitate the airport expansion project,” the official said.

“The Board had to consider its options such as having to forestall the extension of the work and so we had to make some decisions,” the official said.

BK International has for some time now leased a plot of land at the CJIA, but is yet to construct a facility there. One option that was being considered was if BK International had wanted the GA2000 hangar, then he should have given up the lease on the estimated 3 to 5,000 square feet of land.

Up to recently, the GA2000 hangar had housed the wreckage of Caribbean Airlines plane that had crashed landed at the CJIA in 2011.

Word that a top official of the Ministry of the Presidency had ordered the CJIA to transfer the GA2000 hangar to BK International has a come at a time when Minister of State, Joseph Harmon is embroiled in several related controversies. They include the hiring of BK International’s Chief Executive Officer, Brian Tiwari as his ministerial advisor on business. That January 29, 2016 appointment has since been rescinded by President David Granger.

Harmon and Tiwari were recently in China. Harmon was seen aboard an executive jet with top officials of Baishan Lin, a Chinese logging company that has long been criticized by the coalition while in opposition.