The Chinese contractor continues to disregard Govt. airport project deadlines
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill is engaged with China Harbor Engineering Company and officials from Cheddi Jagan International Airport
Kaieteur News – China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) continues to ignore government deadlines. This is after the Chinese contractor failed to complete critical unfulfilled tasks at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) by a December 2020 deadline.
It was previously agreed that the contractor would complete 34 of the 71 essential items at the US $ 150M airport by December 31, 2020. Concerned however, CHEC has only been able to complete January 7, 2021 13 of those 34 items. as revealed by the CJIA authorities.
Due to their inability to perform the tasks, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has called on CHEC to adhere to strict timelines to complete remaining work at the airport. But even with these urgent calls, the government has not identified any sanctions if CHEC fails to honor those commitments.
Speaking at a meeting with CHEC officials at CJIA on Friday, Minister Edghill said, “the new things to do as well as the old items to be put together have to be done and if we find that slips, I will have to make the necessary intervention because we cannot allow for a last minute rush. ”
Edghill continued, “The Government of Guyana, in good faith, entered into that agreement with China Harbor Engineering Company and signed a friendly settlement agreement requiring action on both parts. We have confirmed that our end of the deal is so noble and sincere. As a Government, we expect nothing less from CHEC. ”
As part of their recovery objectives, CHEC was therefore pressed to submit to Government, a Resource Allocation Plan by January 31. at the latest. This plan will provide the Ministry with guidance on how CHEC intends to implement its obligations within the agreed timescales.
The contractor was also encouraged to complete the preliminary designs for the curtain walls, a corridor to facilitate the two air bridges and a superstructure for the building in front of the airport. Preliminary designs for these items are expected on 31 January and final designs are expected in March.
“We need to get those because we need to agree to them, [So, we can] procurement begins and we start work. We know how long the civil work has been taking you and we can’t think wishfully, if we start in October, we will finish by December 31 [2021]. It’s not going to happen and we’re not going to tolerate it, ”said Minister Edghill.
Better communication
Minister Edghill also called for better communication among the contractor, project manager and project engineers as this is essential to resolve any issues that may arise quickly. To this end, the Minister said that he and the CJIA’s Chief Executive Officer Ramesh Ghir and the project consultant would meet with all parties involved to resolve any issue.
In terms of ongoing works, Minister Edghill admitted that there may be challenges at the airport to carry out contractual work while the facility is operational, but said that the work must go ahead. In this regard, he said, “there must be someone who works closely to ensure proper planning ahead of time so that we can make the necessary adjustments.”
In December, the Government brokered an agreement with CHEC for the company to undertake $ 1.8 billion in work on CJIA at no additional cost to taxpayers.
This was a major breakthrough for President Irfaan Ali’s Administration as the PPP / C criticized APNU + AFC, in and out of the National Assembly, for reducing the scope of the original contract signed in 2012, thereby changing Guyanese’s short.
The project is years behind its completion date and the new agreement sets December 31, 2021 as the date by which all remaining work must be done so that taxpayers could have value for money.
Additional work agreed by CHEC includes:
1. Extension of the airport residential corridor to accommodate two other passenger boarding bridges, providing a total of six boarding bridges to the airport capable of servicing aircraft such as the Boeing 777, Dream liner, the Airbus and trans aircraft —A similar one.
2. Extension of Terminal Building to accommodate additional commercial space such as food courts and duty free shops. The expanded building will feature a modern airport facade covering the full length of the Departure Terminal.
CHEC has also agreed to rectify and complete all remaining remedial works within prescribed timelines.