Transport Minister, Robeson Benn yesterday received a copy of the report from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on its investigation into the torched aircraft found at an illegal airstrip at Orealla two weeks ago but there are no immediate clues as to where the plane came from and who owns it.
Benn told Stabroek News that the report was handed to him yesterday afternoon. He said while there was no clear-cut information as to the origin and ownership of the aircraft, there were enough clues for the GCAA to go out and investigate.
He said that the GCAA would be making contact with its counterparts overseas to verify the origin of the Czech Republic-manufactured Let 410 turboprop aircraft which carried a Venezuelan flag when it was found. The Guyana Defence Force had seized the illegal airstrip with the burnt-out aircraft, along with a still-smouldering all-terrain vehicle and a bulldozer three weeks ago. The military had said that the airstrip was constructed to facilitate the transshipment of narcotics and other illegal activities. The airfield was destroyed after a GDF pilot spotted it during a routine flight in the area.
The GDF said that the pilot was flying lower than usual when he noticed the aircraft. According to the GDF the pilot on over-flying the airstrip noticed the aircraft parked halfway up the strip and several persons clad in dark clothes emerging from the jungle.
When the airfield was seized the burnt-out aircraft appeared to have been severely damaged after attempting to take off and had skidded off to the right of the airstrip.
The airstrip, some 3600 feet in length and 375 feet in width was longer than the Ogle runway and wider than the Timehri runway. After seizing the airstrip GDF troops conducted patrols and discovered a 25-ft trail that led for some two miles to the Corentyne River. Questions have been raised about the quality of the surveillance in that area considering the amount of clearing that had been done and the apparent local collusion.
Meanwhile, Benn could not shed any light on the ownership of the bulldozer. Investigators here are still to verify whose equipment it was. Two Corentyne businessmen, one of whom had been accused in the past of having connections with the drug trade, have been linked to the bulldozer.
However, one of the businessmen with whom this newspaper spoke denied any knowledge of it. The businessman told this newspaper that he did not deal in such equipment and he knows nothing about it.
A senior military source had told this newspaper that the bulldozer was registered to a businessman in Berbice who when questioned said that he had sold the machine to another man.
Three foreigners: two Colombians and a Venezuelan were initially arrested in connection with the airstrip, but police later released them and they were deported. Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon told the media on Friday that the bulldozer might have been transported to the location on a barge.
Luncheon said it was one of the angles investigators were looking at, adding that there is a huge trail from the river leading to a camp.
He said the trail is very wide which suggested that it can accommodate the large equipment.
