No repairs being done to CJIA runway

─ news article “a gross misconception” says Minister Edghill

Minister of Public Works Bishop, Bishop Juan Edghill, M.P, has made it clear that no repair is slated to be undertaken on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) as was reported in one of the daily newspapers.

Minister Edghill said the article is “a gross misconception.”

The headline in the article which was published on March 17 stated “$15M more to fix rehabilitated CJIA runway.” The article also states that the works come mere months after the runway at the airport was commissioned in September, 2021.

However, Minister Edghill said contrary to what is stated in the article, the $15 million has been allotted for the repair of the Taxiway Charlie at the airport.

Taxiways are the roadways that airplanes use to get to and from the runway. They connect the runway with the ramp and parking area.

“[The] Taxiway Charlie has been in a state of disrepair that was not a part of the Chinese contract. The Cheddi Jagan International Airport is responsible for that as a corporation and that is the Taxiway Charlie that is being addressed. This is not the runway, this is taxiway,” Minister Edghill stated.

The Minister said the repairs to the taxiway are part of the overall modernisation of the CJIA.

“The maintenance of taxiways are normal things. It is just like a road where the aircraft has to use to get to the runway. Time after time various pieces of equipment and machinery use that, they are dripping of oil, there are cracks, damage as a result of weight and taxiway Charlie has experienced some amount of deterioration and all that we are doing is fixing taxiway Charlie which is separate and distinct from the new runway that was built,” he added.

The repairs to the taxiway forms part of multi-million-dollar contracts which were signed in August by the CJIA and several contractors. Some of the other works being undertaken include the construction of an office building and repairs to the international apron.