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CJIA expansion… Small airport dissuades major airlines — Finance Minister
Rehashing previous defenses used by the government for the US$150M expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, on Thursday, said that the new and improved international airport will facilitate direct flights from major countries to Guyana.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
At the time, Minister Singh was speaking at the opening ceremony of Qualfon’s new Guyana location in Providence.
During his address to Qualfon officials, Singh said that the new airport will offer Qualfon clients and all travelers at large the opportunity to experience direct flights.
“Soon, you will be landing at a much bigger airport and when the rain falls you don’t have to whip out your umbrella…you won’t have to walk across the tarmac when it’s raining because as you now know we are building a major international airport complete with air bridges and so forth,” the Finance Minister asserted.
He added that international airlines have indicated their interest in introducing direct flights to Guyana from major destinations. He said, too, that these international airlines have “come to Guyana and have done the due diligence”. However, he said, these plans have been foiled by the CJIA’s current state.
“They have said that they would like to introduce direct flights from North America to Guyana, except that the equipment they use cannot land at the airport that we currently have,” Singh said.
However, the Finance Minister declined to mention who these interested “major international airlines” were, instead, saying that they had “been named before”.
He went on to tell Qualfon officials, “I want Guyana to be a place where your clients will get on a plane, fall asleep…and do their work and not have to worry about getting off and changing flights and connections and so on.”
“So, once that new airport is completed, connectivity from the standpoint of your clients being able to come to Guyana will be considerably improved as well,” Singh added.
Since 2011, the government had indicated plans for the expansion of the CJIA. The project entailed the building of an entirely new airport with at least eight air bridges and an extension of the runway by 3,500 feet.
The US$150M CJIA project will not include a parallel taxiway in this project at this time. Navigation facilities such as lighting are to be installed. A service vehicle lane is to be provided as well as emergency facilities such as fire fighting systems.
Since its announcement, the project has come under fire with the opposition voting against allocations for the project in 2014. At that time, the opposition questioned how the monies, some US$32M ($6.5B), were to be spent.
The project’s contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) had also come under fire after Guyana learnt about the project through Jamaican newspapers.
A deal was eventually signed with China Exim Bank putting US$138 million ($27.6 billion) in financing.
There had also been questions about the cost of certain expenses contained in the bills of quantities for the expansions, including that of toilet fixtures.
CJIA officials have themselves complained that the current terminal facilities are too small to accommodate the crowds at peak season times, with limited booths available for customs and check-ins. There are also issues with the sewage, air conditioning and electrical systems.
After the US$200M Skeldon modernization project to build a factory and expand cultivation, the CJIA is the country’s second biggest infrastructural project.
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