Months after relocation…CJIA expansion dictates moving multi-million $$$ landing equipment

Jun 24, 2012 News

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A multi-million-dollar piece of equipment to help land planes at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, was only commissioned in February after being moved from another location, but it is likely to be relocated yet again if Government moves ahead with the US$150M expansion project for that area.

The localizer for the Instrument Landing System (ILS) is at the northern end of CJIA’s main runway, the same runway that government wants to extend by another 1,000 meters (3,000 feet). It is mere feet away from the northern end of the main runway where the Caribbean Airways flight lost control and broke into two back in July 2011.
It was only in February that the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), regulators of the country’s airspace, announced that the localizer was installed.
While no figures have been released for the cost of the equipment, earlier this year, during a celebration of GCAA’s decade long existence, Transport Minister, Robeson Benn, said that over $1B was being spent to upgrade flight safety and operations at CJIA and Ogle.
According to one aviation official, the current location of the localizer is a clear indication that the US$150M CJIA expansion project may have been rushed through.
“I don’t believe a lot of thought went into this final plan we have here that was signed with the Chinese contractor. There were no consultations with the Guyanese community and the localizer is a blatant example of how the project was rushed through. This will be a waste of taxpayers’ money spent,” on Timehri resident said.
The localizer may not be the only casualty of the controversial CJIA expansion.
The Timehri Prisons is in the way also, being one of the closest of buildings to the runway. Last year, millions of dollars was spent on that facility. It is still unclear whether it will have to be removed.
Government has announced a halt to the project, to facilitate a probe into allegations that Chinese company, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), was involved in a string of incidents tied to corruption. But CHEC officials are already in the country and were gathering soil samples in areas where the runway is to be extended.
On Wednesday, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, speaking with reporters, disclosed that local Chinese Embassy, CHEC and Minister of Transportation, Robeson Benn, are meeting to discuss the concerns that have been raised about that construction company.
CHEC is under fire in Jamaica for being awarded a major road and highway contract without any clear evidence of bidding taking place.
A senior port official in China was sentenced to death last year after being found guilty by a court there for taking bribes from CHEC. In Bangladesh, a son of a former Prime Minister was also sentenced to six years in absentia for laundering monies taken in bribes from the same company.
CHEC and its parent company, China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), have also been barred by the World Bank from participating in any of its roads and bridges contracts until 2017.
CHEC and its parent company have also been barred by the World Bank from participating in any of its roads and bridges contracts until 2017.
The fact that the CJIA deal was signed, secretly, in Jamaica last November, days before former President Bharrat Jagdeo was due to step down because of term limits, and the other revelations of corruptions, have raised serious questions about the project and added pressure for government to review the contract.
Recently, both Jagdeo and the Chinese Ambassador, Yu Wenzhe, said that they were not against a review of the project.
Government has said that the final cost of the CJIA expansion project could go upwards of US$150M, making it the second largest infrastructure project to date in Guyana, after the US$200M Skeldon sugar project.
Already, angry residents of Timehri North, a community of almost 1,800 residents have vowed not to move. They have received notices to remove. Some of them have been living there for 40 years. Many of them were born there. The one-month deadline to move ends this week. According to Daniel Fraser, Chairman of the Timehri (North) Community Development Council (TNCDC), a group formed to represent residents and businesses, they are examining legal action.
“We have remained silent until recently. But we want the Guyanese community to know about what is happening,” the official said during a meeting.
The soil testing work has seen over $7M in damage to the cash crop farms, residents said. “They want us to move. We have light, water, telephone. We are not in the path of the runways. The Timehri prison is even closer to the runway. They spent millions of dollars on it last year. Nobody has told us about compensation,” another resident said.
There are over 30 shops in the community, three churches, a fire station, and living quarters for prison workers.
Several residents living in Timehri North work at the CJIA.
Over 300 homes will have to be removed if CJIA goes ahead with its plans to relocate.
Residents are claiming that the lands do not belong to CJIA but to the state and the area even falls under a voting division with the Guyana Elections Commission.
Government, in its justification of the CJIA expansion, had said that it was targeting Africa and Asia for its markets.
The project will include a brand new, larger terminal building, a longer runway, CCTV, improved baggage handling capacity and safety features, loading bridges and other amenities.

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