Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh says that Government’s decision to place airstrips at Leguan and Wakenaam is justified since those two islands in the Essequibo River have fairly large populations and the infrastructure was needed for further development.
He said that the airstrips will serve the community in terms of opening up access and providing for medical evacuations.
According to Singh, air transportation of produce wasn’t a major consideration in making the decision to build the airstrips, since this is not a regular mode of transportation for farmers and their goods.
He said that economic considerations were not the only ones guiding Government’s decision, but social ones as well, among others.
Singh pointed out that similar thought was given to the construction of an airstrip built near the Iwokrama field station last year.
The airstrips will be constructed from an allocation of $108M that has been budgeted for the air transport sector in 2008 which also caters for rehabilitation of the Baramita airstrip in Region One.
Government reported that last year it spent about $27M on the hinterland airstrip programme while approximately $23M was spent in 2006. “These activities have enabled citizens from hinterland areas to access affordable goods and services including medical attention,” the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
According to GINA, there are 54 hinterland airstrips across the country, 37 of which are managed by the State and are managed and upgraded annually through the Ministry of Public Works. But the policing of hinterland airstrips remains a challenge and to add to this, a number of illegal airstrips are discovered from time to time.
An additional $29.7M is budgeted for the maintenance of domestic aerodromes while up to $28M will be spent on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport to upgrade and repair the airport’s electrical system. Plans are also in train to intensify airport security training this year.
Some of the improvements at the main airport include the construction of the new arrival terminal, rehabilitation of the airport sewerage system and the construction of a new sewage treatment plant and the establishment of a new identification system.
GINA said that in addition, runway-end identification lights were installed, the viewing gallery refurbished and several pieces of important equipment to boost security such as baggage scanners and hand-held metal detectors were procured.
