Conference Center rehab will not draw a cent from national coffers - Public Telecoms Ministry

Conference Center rehab will not draw a cent from national coffers – Public Telecoms Ministry

Nov 02, 2016 News

The Ministry of Public Telecommunications yesterday released a press statement in an effort to set the record straight on the source of financing for the rehabilitative works to be done of the Author Chung Conference Centre.
The Ministry noted that there were a series of “speculative statements” suggesting that the Government of Guyana was prepared to utilize public funds for the imminent rehabilitation of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
The Ministry said that just as the Conference Centre was constructed and funded entirely by the government of the People’s Republic of China through the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation between 2004 and 2006, this rehabilitation project will be funded entirely by the same means – grant aid.
Public Telecommunications noted that the terms and conditions for repairs to the structure were written into the agreements that were signed in 2004. The agreements state that the same construction firm will repair the interior and exterior of the main and adjoining buildings at no cost to the people of Guyana.
Guyana’s only financial contribution is the provision of security services on site.
The Ministry said that after 10 years of continuous use, wear and tear coupled with the vagaries of natural elements, including shifting foundations and saline breezes from the close by Atlantic Ocean, took a toll on sections of the Centre.
The Ministry noted that the concrete stairways and upper level floors and ceilings are cracked in some places. On the ground floor, the foundation and walls are also showing widening cracks. Many of the three-inch thick ceramic floor tiles have come loose as a result of structural movement and undulation.
It was pointed out that the Centre’s back-up power generating system that stopped working some years ago will be replaced as well as the entry gates, the fire alarm and first response systems, the driveway and much of the plumbing.
The Centre will be closed from December 1, for approximately 18 months. This schedule was crafted by the signatories to the agreements surrounding the donation and maintenance of the Conference Centre.

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