Auditor General to launch full audit of CJIA expansion project

The Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, will be launching a full value-for-money audit into the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project.

This pronouncement was made yesterday by Sharma, who related that he is currently in the preparatory stages as he is in the process of gathering the information he needs.

Sharma pointed out that the value-for-money audit will cover the entire contract from the beginning of the project to its end.

When questioned about what prompted him to launch the investigation, Sharma pointed out that the various comments and news stories circulating around the media influenced his decision to go ahead with the audit.

“We would’ve done certain things during the process of the contract and I know we had done some initial work on the initial contract,” Sharma said, while noting that it is normal for an audit to be carried out on projects of a similar nature when they are completed.

However, he was unable to say when he would start, given that he is still in the information gathering phase, nor was he able to comment on when he expects the investigation to conclude.

 On Wednesday, after former Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn had stated in a letter that an investigation into the project should be carried out, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, through a Facebook post on his profile, stated that he welcomed an investigation on the matter.