Govt. has never had the option of control over financing for this donated facility

Nov 06, 2016 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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It started with one person expressing outrage online and issuing some speculative statements intimating that the Government of Guyana was prepared to utilize public funds for the rehabilitation of the Arthur Chung Conference

Centre. The online story got some traction and a few newspaper columnists went on to question the Government’s process of prioritization, since other essential services such as law enforcement, electricity generation and distribution, water purification and distribution, education and technological projects for example, do indeed need capital injection.
Fortunately one enterprising journalist attached to one of the daily newspapers sought out the subject Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes, for clarification and definitive answers. She took the opportunity to put the matter into proper perspective and debunk the speculations and suppositions.
The Minister gave the assurance (to the general public through the newspaper report) 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 exercise will be funded entirely by the same means – grant aid. The Conference Centre was, in fact, a gift to the people of Guyana.
She explained that the Chinese Government through the Embassy in Guyana has since played a key role in the maintenance of the Centre and all the equipment it contains. After some time, it was they (the Chinese engineers) who established that there were structural deficiencies.
In keeping with the parameters of the donor arrangement, they set the timetable for rehabilitation of the interior and exterior of the main and adjoining buildings at no cost to the people of Guyana.
The price tag is US$7M, but Guyana’s only financial contribution is the provision of security services on site.
Minister Hughes was disappointed and saddened that some Guyanese still seem to function with the belief that they would not receive truthful answers from Government, or any answers at all, or fear that they would be abused and banned for asking questions, which is every citizen’s inalienable right. The scars of the past, it appears, have not yet healed.
She was adamant about this: “If this government had the option of choice, we would have preferred to struggle with the structural challenges at the Conference Centre, and would have injected the US$7M grant aid funds into education, or citizens’ security, or social services,” she said.
After all, the conference centre is a revenue earner. In 2015 it contributed over G$60 Million to the national coffers.
Minister Hughes stressed that the centre and its maintenance has had no relationship with existing donor arrangements that Guyana has with China, or the IDB, the EU, the USA, UNDP or any other country or donor agency, arrangements which are generally handled by the Ministry of Finance. It has no relationship with the airport expansion project or the proposal to build overhead bridges on the East Bank Demerara.
Therefore the question of redirecting the donated funds to any other sector does not arise. The Government has never had the option of control over the financing for this donated facility.

STRUCTURAL REPAIRS & UPGRADES
The Arthur Chung Conference Centre is arguably the biggest meeting place in Guyana. It has been used continuously for ten (10) years for national and international events. At mid-year this year the government hosted the CARICOM Heads of Government annual summit. We utilized the copious space for the Fashion component of the Guyana Jubilee Festival. The Toshaos from every part of Guyana met in the main auditorium as they do every year for their national convention. The Centre is a favourite venue for private and public secondary schools graduation ceremonies, and many couples were married in those halls. Private sector organisations use the Centre for their Christmas parties and business functions
The wear and tear has done a bit of damage, as have the natural elements, especially the saline breezes from the close by Atlantic Ocean. But the most damage was found on and below ground. It appears that the foundation has shifted in places and resulted in cracks on some concrete stairways, upper level floors and ceilings. On the ground floor, the cracks in the walls are lengthening and widening. Many of the three-inch thick ceramic floor tiles have come loose as a result of structural and subterraneous movement.
Indications are that the unaccustomed heavy flow of traffic in the Liliendaal area may not have been factored into the design specifications ten years ago. In any case, continued use of the centre is tantamount to courting the high probability of accidents and physical injuries.

REGRETS
From 1st December, 2016, the Arthur Chung Conference Centre will be closed for approximately eighteen months. This schedule was made by the signatories to the agreements surrounding the donation and maintenance of the Conference Centre.
The Ministry of Public Telecommunications last week reiterated its regret for the inconvenience the closure would cause to the many organisations that utilize this facility on a regular basis, including over the Christmas season.
In the same vein, the Government of Guyana took the opportunity to express its gratitude, on behalf of the people, to the Government and people of China for their most generous donation.

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