A senior US official has criticised the record of Chinese state-owned enterprises operating across Latin America and the Caribbean, citing a pattern of unfinished or deficient infrastructure work in the region. The Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs said contractors linked to Beijing had repeatedly cut corners, broken contracts and allowed projects to run years behind schedule, undermining the durability of public works meant to serve as long-term national assets.

The official pointed to several cases across the region to support the claim. A hydroelectric dam in Ecuador has been beset by structural cracks and technical faults since its completion. In Peru, a number of Chinese-backed developments have stalled or been abandoned outright. In Guyana, renovations to the country's main airport have taken more than a decade to reach anything resembling completion, a timeline the official described as emblematic of the wider pattern.

The Cheddi Jagan International Airport project dates back to late 2011, when the Guyanese government signed an agreement with China Harbour Engineering Company for a substantial overhaul of the country's principal air gateway. The original contract was valued at $138 million, supplemented by a further $12 million in local funding. The plan called for an entirely new terminal building spanning 17,000 square metres, fitted with eight passenger boarding bridges, a scale intended to position Guyana for a marked rise in air traffic.

That vision did not survive a change of government. Following elections in 2015, the incoming administration inherited a project that contractors argued could not be delivered within the original budget. The scope was subsequently reduced. Plans for a wholly new terminal were dropped in favour of renovating the existing structure. The arrivals building was shrunk considerably from what had first been proposed, and the number of boarding bridges was cut by half, from eight to four. Officials at the time presented the changes as a pragmatic response to financial constraints, though critics argued the country was receiving a fraction of what it had originally been promised.

A further change of government in 2020 brought renewed scrutiny to the project. The new administration inherited facilities widely regarded as inadequate for the airport's needs, and pressed the contractor to address the shortfall. Negotiations that followed resulted in an agreement under which China Harbour Engineering Company undertook roughly $15 million in additional remedial works at no extra cost to the Guyanese state. That package included new commercial space and an additional boarding corridor, intended to bring the facility closer to its originally envisioned capacity.

Even with those remedial works under way, the current government has opted not to rely further on the original contractor for the airport's next phase of expansion. A British firm has instead been engaged to build a second passenger terminal from scratch, a move officials have framed as a way of securing modern capacity without revisiting the disputes that dogged the first project. Construction timelines for the new terminal have not been finalised, though the decision itself signals a degree of caution toward further reliance on the original arrangement.

The episode retains political resonance in Guyana beyond the airport itself. China Harbour Engineering Company has separately entered into quarry agreements with a company tied to the current leader of the country's opposition, a connection that has drawn attention amid the broader debate over Chinese-financed infrastructure in Guyana. Combined with Washington's public criticism of the firm's regional track record, the arrangement has kept the airport's troubled history, and the contractor's role in it, firmly within domestic political conversation even as the facility's remedial works near completion.

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