New spaces for concession areas, lounges, play parks, restaurants and other amenities will be available at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) with the staff being moved to a new administration building.
The new administration building is in addition to a new airline office building being constructed at the airport and the retrofitting of the “superstructure” which will also accommodate concession areas.
This is according to Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill during a recent interview with News Room at his Wight’s Lane, Kingston, Georgetown office.
A contract to the tune of $890.4 million was awarded to Avinash Contracting & Scrap Metal Inc for the construction of the new administration building in October 2022.
Meanwhile, a contract to the tune of $513.7 million was awarded to Kallco Guyana Incorporated in August 2022 for the construction of a building to house a conference room, offices for the airlines and other supporting agencies, and a duty-free bond.
Noteworthy, Edghill related that the airport expansion project, which was being undertaken by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), met its June 30, 2022 deadline and has been completed.
The expansion project started in 2013 but was snagged by issues, including those associated with a decision by the former APNU+AFC government to modify the design originally agreed to by the government and the company.
Some US$138 million of the project was funded by the EXIM (Export-Import) Bank of China, while US$12 million was spent by the Government of Guyana.
In December 2020, after four months of resisting the government’s request to have the CJIA expansion project completed in accordance with the initial contract, CHEC agreed to foot a US$9 million bill for additional work at the airport.
