CJIA contract remains in force, not under any REVIEW

Jun 30, 2012 News

…deal took 10 months to work out – CHEC Officials

The Guyana Government and China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC) negotiated intensely from February 2011 up until the contract was signed in Guyana last November, a few days before the Regional and General Elections.
This revelation was made yesterday when Zhongdong Tang, the Company’s Regional Director for the Americas, and his CHEC team sought to clear the air on a number of issues not limited to allegations of corruption.
Asked about recent talk of the review of the project, Tang and his team that comprised Colvin Heath-London, Senior Business Manager, CHEC; Jennifer Armond, Communications Manager, CHEC; and Huntley Medley, Communications Consultant, explained that to date CHEC has not been formally informed of any review of the contract.
It was explained that as a result of the World Bank, concerns surrounding the parent company, meetings were held with various officials to clear the air on that issue.
There has been no official word of a review communicated to the contractor by the Guyana Government.
Tang reminded media operatives that as a result of the World Bank rancor, CHEC gave the CJIA Board of Directors, the Ministry of Works, and the Government of Guyana explanations of the issues.
Tang said too, that China Harbour also met and had open discussions with some civil society groups including the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and the Guyana Private Sector Commission.
He committed to having the company “continue to be engaged with various groups of the Guyanese society, including residents living near the airport in particular, and the Guyanese public in general, as the project moves forward.”
Tang told media operatives that it was CHEC that approached the Guyana Government with a proposal to upgrade the airport after he would have visited the country.
This negated any instance of a public tendering process, given that it is Chinese money being made available to Guyana on the basis of using Chinese Construction Companies, he said.
He said that not one single meeting in relation to the project was ever held in Jamaica. All were held at the Ministry of Public Works in Kingston, Georgetown.
It was explained that Jamaica’s only involvement stems from the fact that its Regional Office is based there and the Company would have given the Jamaica Observer the information when the deal was finalized.
The officials sought to say that the project was never negotiated in secret and it was just a case where CHEC released the information on the contract signing before the Guyana Government.
Tang told media operatives that CHEC funded all of the studies required for the proposal to be formulated which would include feasibility and engineering studies among others.
As it relates to how the company arrived at the US$150M price tag, Tang sought to explain that during the 10 months of negotiation Guyana did manage to have an input.
Citing confidentiality arrangements, the CHEC officials refused to identify any of the Guyanese who would have been a part of the negotiations. Only the venue for the meeting was confirmed by the CHEC Officials.
Tang reiterated that the original proposal was modified on more than one occasion based on the input from the Guyanese team until the scope was found to be acceptable to all and “affordable.”
Speaking to the alternatives available on the way forward given the rancor raised, the CHEC Officials explained that the line of communication is always open with the government but stressed that the Guyana Government has the prerogative to pull out of the project.
It was pointed out that several hundred million US dollars to be channeled to Guyana for infrastructural developmental works is now at stake.
While the officials could not give a definitive position on the status of the loan from the China Exim Bank, they did indicate that details would not be forthcoming from the Company on that issue.
It was made clear by the officials that CHEC is a commercial entity doing business and that it is for the Guyana Government to provide the necessary clarifications being sought.

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