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Feb 14, 2014 News
Cabinet has approved the contract for a Consultant to supervise the extension of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport’s runway, to the tune of US$5.9M
This was confirmed by Governance Advisor to the President, Gail Teixeira, who yesterday hosted the post-Cabinet press briefing at Office of the President.
While she was able to provide a price for the contract approved by Cabinet, Teixeira was unable to say who exactly secured the contract.
The bids for the project were opened at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Ministry of Finance, Main Street, in November last.
The bidders were Vicab Engineering Consultants in Association with Louis Berges Group of Canada, Stanley Consultancy Incorporated in Association with Designs and Construction Inc Ltd of Guyana, MMM Group of Canada in Association with Caribbean Engineering Group, Stuart Consultancy Group of the U.S.A and Egisavie from France.
The expansion of CJIA’s runway is currently underway, with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) continuing to remove the soft peat and backfilling the area with sand.
The project has been continuing apace, despite the fact that the Guyana Government has not secured approval for the expenditure from the National Assembly.
In giving a recent update on the project, Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn was adamant that monies that come to Guyana from International Financial Institutions, such as is the case with the airport project, must be spent.
“It would be the worst thing in the world for a project that was previously approved and the funding comes, that you do not spend that money.” He said that should this be the case, all foreign-funded projects would collapse.
“The money has to come and be spent,” Benn emphasised.
Chief Executive Officer of CJIA, Ramesh Ghir, provided a summary of the operations of the airport in 2013, explaining that as it relates to the expansion project, more than 4,500 truckloads of sand have already been dumped.
A site office has been completed and according to the officials, the final design for the terminal is expected to be completed by the end of March.
Meanwhile, Assistant General Manager of CHEC, Dr Zhimin Hu, who more recently provided an update on the undertaking, said that the biggest challenge facing the US$150M project stretches for 1,400 of the 2,247-ft. extension of the runway.
The problem is as a result of the soft nature of the soil and the level of water present.
Dr Hu told those present at a recent engineer’s conference that the company proposes to drill and install a number of sand columns meant to dry the soil and allow for greater consolidation.
That stretch of runway will also require tonnes of sand to fill in, in order to raise the level of the soil to meet the current height of the existing runway. This will have to be done along the 1,400 feet section, which will be 115 metres wide and will have to be raised as much as 15 metres in some parts.
This publication understands that the airport was built on a plateau and as such at the end of the existing runway there is a slope downwards that will have to be raised accordingly.
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