US$150M airport renovation… Consultants red-flagged contractor for numerous breaches …but complaints were tucked away

Mar 27, 2019 News

The US$150M Timehri airport project has dragged on now four years past its deadline, and it is pellucid that Guyana is getting way less than what it contracted China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for.
The project is currently the country’s largest on-land infrastructural project and it is about to be handed over. Overlooking the project for Guyana were two companies – MMM Group from Canada and CEMCO, a local engineering consultancy.
Since the start of construction in 2013, the consultants have issued numerous notices, red-flagging environmental and other breaches by CHEC.
According to insiders, however, it appears that the Chinese contractor has “very good friends”, starting with the previous administration under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic and continuing into this Coalition Government.
Despite a significant number of worrying environmental breaches, CHEC was allowed to continue on its merry way.
“What I can tell you is that numerous reports were prepared. They were given to the people that matter, including the project manager. CHEC did not really care. They seemed to be protected,” said an official close to the project.
Officials have been tightlipped, noting that the project is not being handled by the management of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation, but rather, by a team at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
In fact, there were cases when recommendations were made for money to be withheld pending corrective actions by CHEC.
“Then you hear that the go-ahead has been given for payments to be made.”

China Harbour was cited numerous times for environmental and other breaches but little was done in terms of corrective action.

The attitude to CHEC coupled with details that are now emerging about the actual contract that the Government of Guyana signed with CHEC, have been raising eyebrows across the country.
Not only were the costs in the 2011 contract significantly inflated, but CHEC was allowed to simultaneously conduct construction of the MovieTowne project at Liliendaal.
“The lines became blurred when it comes to duty free concession for the airport and what was going elsewhere. There are so many things that are wrong with this project and how we as a people of Guyana handled it…that it is shocking,” the official said.
In 2011, CHEC told the then Government, under Bharrat Jagdeo, it could find financing and build a new terminal building and longer runway for wide-body jets for US$150M.
Guyana, without going to tender, signed the contract with the Chinese contractor. The financing was not found until a year later. The actual construction began in 2013.
It appeared that CHEC did little preparatory work. It started on the northern side of the airport runway, dumping thousands of truckloads of sand. However, work had to be halted because of poor soil conditions.
In 2015, upon entering office, the Coalition Government halted the project and conducted a review.
The entire project was drastically modified and instead of a new terminal building to house an arrival and departure area, there is a smaller arrival area. The old terminal was gutted and renovated for the departure area.
Instead of the attractive skylights to save energy, a bland roof has been installed at the smaller arrival terminal.
Eight passenger bridges have been reduced to four.
The contractor was given hundreds of millions of dollars in tax concessions including on trucks and materials.
It was reported that containers of material, also granted concessions, ended up elsewhere.
As if that was not enough, it was discovered that the actual contract was riddled with inflated prices.
For example a 40-inch TV display cost over $1.2M, about $900,000 more than what it was selling for in 2011.
Perhaps the most glaring of all was the amount of sand.
CHEC said it delivered over one million truckloads of sands from the pits that they were given free of cost.
Yet, CHEC placed a cost of $7,000 per truckload to move the sand a short distance away.
Local truckers say that they could have done it for about $4,000.
The price tag for sand alone for the airport is estimated at a staggering US$35M, the cost of the Berbice Bridge.
The government has been largely silent, not even releasing the new designs of the modified project.
In essence, it is a state secret of how the US$150M was spent on what should have been a showpiece for Guyana.
CHEC is supposed to hand over the airport in a matter of weeks.