Aircraft owners lament substandard airstrip upgrades

Jul 20, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – The Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana (AOAG) says it is concerned that there were two aircraft incidents in two days, one on the Eteringbang runway and another on Thursday on the Kamarang runway.

The damaged aircraft on the Eteringbang runaway this past week.

The lamentations were had, according to AOAG, in light of the fact that frequent rehabilitation of these airstrips in the past had been substandard, carried out by unqualified and incompetent contractors and specifically mentions the Eteringbang and Ekereku Bottom.
It was noted by AOAG in a public missive yesterday that “we are extremely proud that our industry is evidentially, statistically, the safest it has been for decades. Thanks to the sterling work of the Director General of Civil Aviation and his team, Guyana’s aviation industry has achieved over the last five (5) years the highest level of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) national compliance.”
It was recalled too that Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, in holding a Budget Stakeholders Meeting in February this year, included in the AOAG’s presentation was a recommendation that the Budget provide sufficient funding to meet the urgent demand for hinterland airstrip rehabilitation and development.
The Association said it had asked, at that time, for a list of the government’s choice of airstrips to benefit from this programme.
It was noted that “The Association subsequently wrote the Minister of Public Works welcoming the receipt from the GCAA of 21 hinterland airstrips designated for this programme and requested that the Association be afforded the opportunity to work in partnership with the Ministry by putting our expertise and experience at the disposal of the Ministry in the implementation of this programme.”
It added that in the Association’s letter to the Minister it was emphasised that it is essential that “the rehabilitation and improvement of these airstrips are planned to meet the specific requirements of the aircraft which use them and that these works are designed to comply with ICAO Annex 14 standards with respect to length, width, surface preference, obstacle clearances, fencing and parking ramp, which, unfortunately, have not always been the case.”
Guyana’s aviation industry, according to AOAG, “enjoys a record for one of the highest safety ratings in the Caribbean Region, while operating out of the busiest airport in the Region and in an extremely challenging and hostile hinterland aviation environment with minimum infrastructural support.
On Wednesday last, a Cessna Caravan ran into some bushes after it landed at the Eteringbang Airstrip located in Region Seven and encountered troubles on landing. The following day there was another incident involving a small aircraft at the Ekereku Bottom airstrip.

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