$15M more to fix rehabilitated CJIA runway

Mar 17, 2022 News

Only last year September the runway was commissioned, now the government is spending $15M more to rehabilitate it

Kaieteur News – With $927 million allocated for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in this year’s budget, the Ministry of Public Works is looking to spend some $15 million to facilitate construction and remedial works on the runway of the country’s main port of entry.
This is according to a recent invitation for bids issued by the Ministry inviting contractors for the ‘Construction of Erosion protection and remedial works for the CJIA Runway Embankment’. The ministry in its public notice stated that bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding procedure specified in the Procurement Act 2003 and that the project is slated to open on April 6 at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office.
This newspaper understands that only last September, the extended runway at the CJIA, coupled with a $518M Instrument Landing System (ILS), was commissioned. The 3,360 metre expanded runway forms part the US$150 million CJIA expansion project which has been ongoing since 2012.
The airport expansion contract was signed in 2011 under then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, and was passed through the truncated presidency of Donald Ramotar. When the David Granger administration took over in 2015, it said that the very defective plan needed adjustments. The then Minister of Public Infrastructure, Patterson, said that upon assumption of office, the APNU+AFC administration found that only seven percent of the work was completed.
Even with the sub-standard work, former Junior Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Jaipaul Sharma revealed that the contractor spent more on certain aspects of the project than was laid out in the contract.
However, he had not shared whether the contractor spent more than the contract sum. Sharma further said that the former APNU+AFC government would have decided whether to penalise the company for “breach of contract”.
The previous government had also stated that it would not spend a cent more on the project, but that was not the case as a change order seen by this newspaper indicated that the administration made at least one additional disbursement of GY$6.8M for the “extra time delay and costs for the prolongation of the project” by 807 days. The order also indicated that it was a payment, not for the first, but the third claim made by the contractor.
As the country awaits the completion of the project, which falls way below expectations, taxpayers are still obligated to repay a loan of US$138M to China, which forms part of the contract sum.

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