T&T offers to open Guyanese aeronautical school there

Dec 17, 2011 News

-as Ogle school graduates 20 aircraft mechanics

Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has offered to help Guyana open an aeronautical school there and to collaborate more in strengthening oversight capacity.
The offer was made yesterday by Ramesh Lutchmedial, T&T’s Director General of its Civil Aviation Authority during a graduation ceremony of 20 students who are now aircraft mechanics.
Also there for the graduation and induction ceremony at the Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School at the Ogle Airport, East Coast Demerara, were President Donald Ramotar, Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn, diplomats and parents, among others.
Currently, the school flies lecturers to T&T to hold classes.

Some of the new graduands taking the Mechanic’s Creed yesterday during a Graduation and Induction ceremony yesterday at the Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School.

Lutchmedial, a 40-year veteran in the aviation field, said the region should now move to introduce certificates that can be accepted in any one of the member states within CARICOM.
He charged the new mechanics to continue upgrading and never divert from set procedures and norms as it could end up with lives lost.
The aeronautical school has graduated 210 Ab-Initio (beginners’ course) students of whom 90 are now fully licenced Engineers under the Ab-Initio and Modular Programmes which commenced in 1997.
The school, with student’s enrolment 62 next year, is operated by the Aircraft Owners’ Association of Guyana Inc., and is accredited and certified by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, the Caribbean Aviation Safety Oversight System of CARICOM and the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority.
According to President Ramotar, the Ogle Airport has evolved a far way from the 1950’s when it was a small facility operated by the Guyana Sugar Corporation for its crop duster. Now the facility is heading to becoming a busy hub for the region, Brazil and Suriname.
He tagged human capital as a critical component for the development of Guyana and like the T&T official, warned the graduands of the heavy responsibilities resting on their shoulders.
The school and the entire Ogle facilities should be an example that other companies should follow, the Head of State urged.
Regarding the aviation industry, the President pointed to the fact that the development of the mining sector has come hand in hand with that of the industry. There are things happening for the Ogle Airport like the 1.5M Euros project to lengthen a runway to accommodate bigger planes.
Then there is the US$9M project to improve the safety and other equipment at Air Traffic Control. This will come with a major plan to modernize the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, terminal building, runways and other facilities there.
Earlier, the school’s Chief Executive Officer, Captain Malcolm Chan-A-Sue, stated that the industry is cut out for those who love it.
Students at the school would spend half day in the classroom and work on engines, and do other work of a practical nature during the rest of the day.
The school was certified on July 24, 2006 by the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards. It is now certified to the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems Standards. It is the first tertiary educational institution in CARICOM with an ISO 9001 Certified Quality Management System and has graduated 90 fully licenced Aviation Engineers who are working across the Caribbean and internationally in a number of major airlines, in addition to Guyana.
Among its clients are LIAT and Caribbean Airlines.

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