Aviation authority installs new board

May 30, 2018 News

– entity lauded for action taken last year against recently doomed Cuban aircraft

With the appointment of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA)’s new nine-member board, the local aeronautics industry is expected to see further improvement.
The board was installed yesterday morning at GCAA’s head office in Kingston.
At the installation ceremony, Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson recalled the significant achievements the Authority has made in the last two years.

(Seated) Chairman of GCAA, Lieutenant Colonel (retired), Lawrence London and Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, flanked by members of the newly installed GCAA board

“The level of compliance has risen from 44.4 percent to 64.6 percent. By virtue of us improving in that area, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has recognised these vast improvements we made over those last few years…millions were expended in the last two and half years on training,” Minister Ferguson explained.
Other successes highlighted include the installation of a new simulator at CJIA, additional manual training and the move from issuing manual pilot licenses to ‘modernised’ ones.
Alluding to the recent misfortune with the Cuban aircraft which took the life of over 100 persons in that country, the Minister lauded the Director General, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Egbert Field and his team for taking the decision to not allow the aircraft to fly out of Guyana due to its non-compliance.
The plane had been bringing Cubans to shop in Guyana, but its operations halted because of safety concerns.
Minister Ferguson charged the new board to continue to work together, to ensure that the working environment is one free from discrimination and victimization and strive towards a 90 percent and above compliance level.
GCAA’s Director General Field said the new board with the help of the government and chairman will support GCAA in “soaring higher” amidst challenges.
“The imminent oil production has created a lot of activity when it comes to the aviation industry. The expanded CJIA with its extended runway and our own domestic aviation continues to grow as the gold price rises. So, it’s a tsunami ahead of this authority but I’m up to the challenge,” Field stated.
Chairman of GCAA (rtd.) Lieutenant Colonel, Lawrence London committed to enhancing the aviation sector. He stressed that the new board’s mission is to “make sure the skies are safe”.
“We will ensure that requests which come through us, whether for training or for approvals for air operative’s certificates… that due diligence is taken and the work is done as quickly as possible. The Director General and his team have been doing a fantastic job and we will support them to ensure that the aviation public is well served,” London explained.
Other board members include Permanent Secretary, Kenneth Jordan; Field; Lt Colonel Courtney Byrne, Duke Pollard, Chief Executive Officer of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Ramesh Ghir; Sadie Amin, Sharon Beverly and Leon Castello.

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