Latest update April 1st, 2026 12:40 AM
Latest News
$703M contract awarded to renovate CJIA’s apron
Kaieteur News – To renovate the Cheddi Jagan International Airport’s (CJIA) international apron with rigid pavement it would cost the government approximately $703,176,270.
This is according to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) which recently awarded the $703 million project to contractor Avinash Construction and Scrapmetal Inc. following the national bidding process.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Public Works had invited contractors to bid for the project which entails replacing the asphaltic concrete pavement at the international apron with rigid pavement. A total of 19 contractors had submitted bids for the project.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) at Timehri.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill had previously shared with the media that the current international apron has been filled with cracks and oil spills for sometime which made it difficult to clean and so this resulted in damaging the present structure, and so this called for a more rigid pavement to be constructed to properly benefit the country’s main airport. He had related that when awarded, the project will last for some 18 months.
Kaieteur News had reported that the new works for the airport are part of the government’s plans to continue to modernise the renovated airport. With about US$160 million already pumped into the expansion of CJIA – citizens should expect more of their taxpayers’ dollars going towards the ‘continued modernisation’ of the airport.
An aerial view of the airport. (Photo courtesy, CJIA)
Last year at a press conference, Minister Edghill told reporters that construction on the airport will continue. The airport expansion 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 Chinese contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for the sum of US$150 million: $138 million from the China Exim Bank and $12 million from the consolidated fund – taxpayers’ money.
When the PPP administration took office in August 2020, Minister Edghill had stated that they were not satisfied with the work that was done by the contractor and as such, they had negotiated and gotten CHEC to do additional works at the airport at no cost to Guyana.
The additional works that were done by the contractor included a superstructure, corridor and curtain wall. It was only recently that CHEC completed the works on the airport.
Notably, while the contract cost with the Chinese contractor remains at US$150M, the government is undertaking several multi-million upgrades to the airport.
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Sir. Ronald Sanders
The GHK Lall Column
Weekend Cartoon
