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$890M contract awarded to build Admin. building at CJIA
Kaieteur News – Avinash Contracting and Scrap Metal Inc. has been awarded a $890M contract to construct an Administrative Office at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri.
The award of this contract follows the completion of the US$150M expansion and rehabilitation of the airport.
On Thursday, Kaieteur News reported that President Irfaan Ali announced that Government intends to spend more money on a new terminal at the airport.
“As I speak to you tonight, we are already contemplating a Terminal Two because you have to get it”, said President Ali at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) dinner and awards. The President said that Government intends to build a second terminal at the airport to facilitate the rapid increase in arrivals here.
“By 2025, the projections are that we will be creeping past one million arrivals”, he added.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport. (Mike Charles photo)
Meanwhile, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) on its website said that Avinash Contracting and Scrap Metal Inc. won the bid for the construction of the administrative building following a competitive bidding process. The $890,440,820 contract for the construction of the building was awarded on November 15, 2022.
In August 2021, it was reported that the Ministry had signed a $25.9M contract with Kalitech Incorporated to design a new office building for the airport staff. In December 2021, CJIA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ramesh Ghir, was quoted in a Department of Public Information (DPI) article stating that the design for the office was completed paving the way for the Ministry to go to tender.
Back in August, Kaieteur News had reported that eight contractors had placed bids at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office for this project, which the Ministry of Public Works had estimated would cost $906.7M.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill had disclosed that the new building would be constructed across the road from the airport. “What we are seeking to do is move all the administrative offices from the airport into a new building so those spaces could be used for other commercial activities,” he had stated.
Minister Edghill, had announced earlier this year that citizens should expect more money being pumped into the ‘continued modernisation’ of the airport.
“We have to continue making more accommodation. I think sooner or later with the oil and gas sector growing and tourism growing and bringing in high profile tourists, we will have to have facilities for corporate jets, luxury lines…people coming here with private planes to go and do things, we have to keep expanding…” he said.
It wasn’t so long ago that Chinese contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), completed its part under the US$150M airport expansion contract. That contract was signed in 2011 under then President Bharrat Jagdeo, and was passed through the truncated presidency of Donald Ramotar.
However, when the David Granger administration took over in 2015, it said that the very defective plan needed adjustments and changes were made. The decade-old project was awarded to CHEC for the sum of US$150M: $138M from the China Exim Bank and $12M from the Consolidated Fund – taxpayers’ money.
When the PPP administration took office in August 2020, Minister Edghill said the government was unsatisfied with the work that was done by the contractor and had negotiated and got CHEC to do additional works at the airport at no cost to Guyana.
The additional works done by the contractor included a superstructure corridor and curtain wall; this was only recently completed.
Notably, while the contract cost with the Chinese contractor remains at US$150M, the Government is undertaking several multi-million upgrades to the airport which were separated into three parts.
The additional projects undertaken by the Government has increased the amount of money spent on the airport.
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