PPP supports audit of airport project - Jagdeo

PPP supports audit of airport project — Jagdeo

Feb 08, 2019 News

By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell

“That project has to undergo a real serious investigation. They took a state of the art project and made it into rehabilitation. We should have had everything pulled down and a spanking, massive new terminal building erected—all within the fixed price contract—including the expansion of the runway and eight air bridges, all of those were part of the contract.”- Jagdeo

Recently, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, facilitated a tour of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) for the media to get a first hand view of the expansion project. On that occasion, the Minister answered several questions from the media on the project.
But, there remain many who have not been comforted by the answers provided by the Minister. In fact, some of those citizens are offering to fund an expert from overseas to conduct a value for money audit on the project that is still to be completed.
Yesterday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, said that those people are on the same side of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) when it comes to not being comforted by the explanations offered by Minister Patterson.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo

Jagdeo said, “We are not comforted either; we are not comforted by his statements at all.”
Jagdeo continued, “That project has to undergo a real serious investigation. They took a state of the art project and made it into rehabilitation. We should have had everything pulled down and a spanking, massive new terminal building erected—all within the fixed price contract—including the expansion of the runway and eight air bridges, all of those were part of the contract.”
Asked specifically about the offer on the table for private citizens to organize and fund an audit, Jagdeo said, “We should not just get it from private source, we should hire an impartial auditor for an audit to be paid for by the state because really, it’s a travesty.”
Jagdeo said that he is so disappointed in the scaled version of the airport expansion that he becomes angry anytime he has to leave the country through that port.
He told the media, “Every time I go there I get angry. It spoils my mood going out and coming in.”
Jagdeo admitted that he hasn’t travelled in a while. “It spoils my mood every single time I go there because I know what we were going to get and what we are getting now. That should have been a pride but now it has gone down to a rehab project.”