The Public Works Ministry has issued a tender to the tune of $1.5 billion for works to be executed on the administrative building of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
According to the notice, bids will be opened on December 18, 2024, and must be accompanied by certificates of compliance from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been constructing the CJIA administration building, as well as the commercial centre. In October 2024, it was announced that this building would be completed by year’s end.
According to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill at the time, the commercial centre will have a VIP, business and executive lounge, as well as escalators and elevators. At the time, he had also said that work on the CJIA office complex would soon recommence after Trinidadian company Kalco Guyana Incorporated requested the termination of its own contract.
“If a contractor is on a site and they are unable to perform, we have to do two things. Work with them to get nominated subcontractors who could assist. You could have several people doing things simultaneously which would expedite the time. In this case, Kalco has asked to be excused from the project because they were not able to do it,” Edghill had said.
“And now we are putting together a list of contractors with capacity who is known to have done work of a similar nature in a restricted tendering process to be able to get them swiftly engaged,” he had further outlined.
The contract for the airport expansion project was initially signed in 2011, during Dr Bharrat Jagdeo’s tenure as president, with China Harbour and Engineering Corporation (CHEC). The then PPP/C Administration acquired a US$138 million loan from the China Exim Bank and used US$12 million from the Consolidated Fund (taxpayers’ money) for the total project cost of US$150 million.
However, upon assuming office in 2015, The project was downsized under the succeeding A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration. However, upon resumption of office in 2020, the PPP/C Government reverted to the old proposal and included some new amenities.
As a matter of fact, after resuming office, the PPP/C Government had inspected the then-ongoing works by CHEC at CJIA. This inspection had shown a deviation from the terms agreed upon in the initial fixed-price US$138 million contract.
In light of this, the Public Works Ministry entered into a new agreement with the company for the further expansion of the CJIA as well as the completion of existing works. The agreement was pegged at US$9 million and it stated that China Harbour would solely bear the costs for the new works to be executed.
The works would go on to involve an extension of the Airport’s boarding corridor in order to accommodate two more passenger boarding bridges, providing the Airport with a total of six boarding bridges capable of facilitating larger Code D and Code E aircraft. It measures approximately 305 metres long and boarding bridges will arrive in July.
In October 2024, the Government installed new e-gates at the CJIA, which will not only help to streamline the process for passengers traversing the facility but also enhance security checks to international standards.
The key features of these e-gates include autonomous immigration processing that performs security checks on passports worldwide; validation of chip passports according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards coupled with future support for Guyana’s e-ID and facial recognition technology for identity verification using an advanced algorithm.
