Latest update February 24th, 2025 6:16 AM
US$150M CJIA Expansion Project…Runway extension halfway done; new Arrivals building slated for next May
Foundation works have already commenced on the new Arrivals building at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), and the edifice is slated to be completed by the end of May next year.
One of the homes for the relocated residents being constructed back in July this year. (file photo)
This was according to the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson during his Budget presentation in the National Assembly last week.
This building is a component of the US$138M Airport Modernisation Project which was inked on November 11, 2011 between the Government of Guyana and China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC). The project is being funded partly through the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China. The Government of Guyana procured the services of engineering consultants – the MMM Group and CEMCO Inc. – taking the total cost of the project to US$150M.
The Project commenced on January 16, 2013, and works were expected to last for 32 months making the initial completion date – September 16, 2015. However, due to several delays, this has now been extended to December 1, 2017.
The runway – another component of the project – entailed one end of the runway being extended. The initial measurement of the runway was 2270 metres (m).
This design was amended after the contractor encountered difficulties with the terrain. It was decided that both ends of the runway be extended – 710 m to the north-east and 840 m to the south-west.
A section of the sand-filled runway. Three vibroflotation mechanisms can be seen in place. (file photo)
The Minister during his presentation stated that the runway is currently 50.54 percent complete and is slated to be fully completed by November 2017.
Patterson provided a breakdown of the works completed thus far on this section. He revealed that the excavation and the foundation treatment processes were both completed while the sand backfill process is 68.7 percent completed at both ends of the runway. This process is expected to be fully completed by June 2017.
Meanwhile, renovation works for the existing terminal building will commence in stages from the check-in side in the first quarter of 2017, and will last until the end of the project.
The Minister related also that two residents within the north-east footprint were already relocated. Contracts have already been awarded for the relocation of three other residents .The relocation exercise is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, when presenting the $250B National Budget on November 28 stated that over $9.5 billion has already been spent. The project will receive another $9 Billion in 2017. Of this amount, China will be putting in $8B, with the remainder coming from local funding.
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