China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), the contractor for expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri has received no word from the government about the review of the World Bank’s debarring of its parent company China Communications and Construction Company (CCCC), company officials said yesterday.
CHEC held a press conference yesterday at the Pegasus Hotel, where company representatives addressed a number of issues, including the debarment, the contract signed with the government and infrastructure projects it is interested in developing in Guyana, including a deep water harbour and a railway link.
It was at the press conference that Colvin Heath-London, CHEC’s Senior Business Manager, said that the company had not been officially notified of the review. Although preparatory work is continuing on-site for the design of the US$138M expansion project, Office of the President last week said construction would not get underway until the conclusion of a review of the World Bank sanction against CCCC. It had also said Chinese authorities and representatives of the government, the Ministry of Public Works, CHEC and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China were all engaged in the examination of the sanction. Speaking at a Private Sector Commission event yesterday, President Donald Ramotar also affirmed that a review was ongoing. “We are reviewing the situation and I want to assure you we will safeguard national interests,” he said.
The airport project includes an extension of the runway to a total of 10,800 feet to accommodate large transatlantic aircraft, along with construction of a new terminal building, acquisition of eight boarding bridges, and installation of other state-of-the-art equipment.
Wary of the ongoing issues in the news about the parent company’s World Bank debarment, CHEC is insisting that it has strong measures against corruption. “Like all international companies we have a comprehensive anti-corruption policy,” Heath-London said yesterday. He noted that because CHEC is a Chinese government-owned company the penalties for corruption are harsh. “We have to conform to the anti-corruption policies of China and in the [overseas country],” he said. Asked what actions persons can take to report acts of corruption, he said that persons can call and make reports to the local management office of CHEC. “We are fully open and transparent and we will act on any complaint expeditiously,” he added. He also said that CHEC is interested in quite a few projects in Guyana, all in the infrastructure sector, inclusive of rail, roads and ports.
CHEC’s Regional Director for the Americas Zhongdong Tang also assured that the company gave the Board of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the Ministry of Works, and the Government of Guyana explanations of the issues that have again been brought to public attention.
“China Harbour also met and had open discussions with some civil society groups, including the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and the Guyana Private Sector Commission. It was not possible for CHEC to meet with all groups on this visit. However, the company will continue to be engaged with various groups of the Guyanese society, including residents living near the airport in particular, and the Guyanese public in general, as the project moves forward,” he said.
During the meetings, CHEC made it clear that the World Bank issue and the matter related to a contract in Bangladesh were not new and were raised publicly and already addressed years ago by CCCC, which, as a listed joint stock limited company made full Clarification Announcements explaining the issues to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 16, 2009 and January 21, 2009.
Zhongdong said that the World Bank issue goes back to 2002 and involved China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) Group, which was taken over by CCCC in 2005. CHEC Group was also taken over by CCCC in 2005.
“CRBC Group was accused of collusion in its bid for a road and bridge project in the Philippines funded by the World Bank. CRBC Group denied the charge. CCCC started discussions with the World Bank to arrive at a resolution of the issue. CRBC Group received no accusation of collusion from the project’s client,” he said.
“The World Bank decided to impose debarment of seven firms and one individual for the alleged matter. They were debarred from bidding for road and bridge projects funded by the World Bank from January 2009 to January 2017. CHEC is not involved in, and has never been involved in, any activity that has attracted any sanctions by the World Bank. CHEC itself has never been under any investigation by the World Bank,” he said.
The debarment only applied to CHEC in July 2011, when the World Bank changed its system and extended the sanction to successor organisations of the original companies and all their subsidiaries, he added.
‘Necessary
upgrade’
Asked how the company became interested in rebuilding the airport, Zhongdong said, “We felt the airport was very old and that it was necessary to upgrade it.” He added that a proposal was made to the government, which accepted it. The company performed the engineering studies and then entered into a period of negotiation to formulate the contract, which was signed in Guyana last November.
He said that it was during the China Caribbean investment conference, held in Trinidad and Tobago in September last year, that a fund was announced for infrastructure development in the region by a visiting official of the Chinese Government. Approval for projects, he noted, was on a first come, first served basis.
Zhongdong said that the company made an engineering proposal to the Government of Guyana. “We provided a suggestion and the government realised there was a potential source of funding,” he said. Zhongdong added that the runway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport is short and not suited for Boeing 777s, 747s nor Airbus A330 and similar wide-bodied planes. He said that the upgrade of the airport would boost the tourism industry.
He added that the company submitted four options for the passenger terminal and based on what the government could have afforded, it decided on the most suitable one. “We did our engineering design and based our submission on this [option],” Zhongdong said.
Heath-London added that the process from initial contact to contract signing took 10 months and he revealed that CHEC funded the feasibility studies and did engineering studies.
Also speaking at the press conference was Communications Consultant for CHEC Huntley Medley, who said that there are various ways in which government could choose to accept the investment. Asked why there was no tender for the project, Medley said that CHEC was competent and prepared to use all available methods of seeking and gaining contracts around the world. He said that for 30 years, CHEC has been making investments and tendering for projects around the world. He said that when it is the case of an investment project there would be no tender.
Medley said too that should the government have a mind to redo the procurement, the company is open to discussing other methods, such as open tendering, with a view to moving the project forward. However, he said that because of the fact that a contract has already been signed, there are many variables that would have to be considered in the case of opting for tendering, including placing international financing at stake.
