| After vehemently denying claims that it approves contracts, the government was yesterday forced to admit that it approved the airport expansion project for which it secretly signed a deal with a Chinese company.It was only after this newspaper and the privately-owned Stabroek News ran a Jamaica Observer story about the project online that the government moved to say that it had approved the project.The government here had chided the company for releasing details of the project and blocked it from speaking to the media.Kaieteur News reported, yesterday, that the deal was signed last Friday and that the China Exim Bank is putting US$138 million ($27.6 billion) in financing.CHEC announced on its website that it had signed a contractual agreement with the Guyana Government to be the official contractors on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion. The company said that the project will be funded by the China Exim Bank to the tune of US$138 million.“The Government of Guyana has announced that it is embarking on a major project to expand the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.“To this end, Cabinet has approved a US$138M design and construction contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC),” the Government Information Agency (GINA) said late Friday evening.The project was not open to bidding. At least, no such advertisement was placed on the government’s procurement website under the Ministry of Public Works through which the airport is administered.The GINA statement said that the project was first announced “several months” ago. However, the project was not reported on by the local media, not even the state media.Further, it was only in August – three months ago – speaking with Caribbean Business Report, Regional Director of CHEC, Zhongdong Tang, said that the company had a team in Guyana, and other countries, “looking for opportunities.”According to the company, the agreement signed will see the construction of a modern terminal building and the extension of the runway by 1,066 meters to reach a total of 3,336 meters.The government has been at pains to state that the Cabinet – the governing Council of Ministers chaired by the President – does not award and approves of contracts, but simply offers a no objection.But, the state yesterday itself admitted that Cabinet approved the contract. Nothing was said of giving a “no objection” following a recommendation of the National Procurement and Tender Board Administration, as the government had said is the procedure for contract awards.Zhongdong Tang and his team said they are enthused about this new project, which now makes Guyana the seventh country in the Latin American region in which the company will be making significant developmental impact.“China Harbour is eager to get started on this project in Guyana. We are capable and prepared to help with the development of the country,” Mr. Tang said.“We are dedicated to render hard work and the best of our engineering skills to the projects we have agreed to execute while passing on our knowledge of engineering to the people of these countries,Kanken Backpack Cheap UK,” he continued.Public Relations Officer of CHEC in Jamaica, Jennifer Harmon, said that she was asked by her company not to reveal any more information about the project and that in fact her decision to reveal the signing to the Jamaica Observer was ill-advised.She said that the Guyana Government would release any information to media here.Apart from saying that the Cabinet approved the project, no other information was provided, other than that released by the Chinese company. It was not stated if the US$138 million financing from the China Exim Bank is the final figure or when and by whom the project was signed.Harmon said she could not share the information about who signed the project.The Jamaica Observer reported that the Guyana project would be CHEC’s fourth major project in the Caribbean since it set up shop in Jamaica last year.The newspaper said that the company had secured projects in Cayman Islands, Mexico and the Bahamas since September.The Chinese firm established its regional headquarters in Jamaica last year April after signing an agreement with the Jamaican Government in 2009 to be the general contractor under the Ministry of Transport and Works and the National Works Agency for two main projects — the Palisadoes Shoreline Protection and Rehabilitation Works and the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP).CHEC regards itself as a world-renowned international contractor that is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC). |
