Dear Editor,
President Jagdeo visited the island of Wakenaam last week where he sought to justify the building of an airstrip by reference to the need for airlift during a medical emergency. Following this reasoning, one could ask what happens if there is a patient at Hog Island or Fort Island? Is his/her life worth so much less that an airstrip there is not justified?
But is this seriously how he justifies spending millions of taxpayer dollars? The President should be aware that the most effective form of transport in such situations is the helicopter. In fact, he used one to travel to the island and didn’t need an airstrip.
No aeroplanes will be left at Wakenaam so one has to get there from another location, presumably Ogle. An aeroplane leaving Wakenaam for Georgetown must land at Ogle and the patient then be transported by ambulance to the GPHC.
A helicopter is much more flexible – it could land in a good, open area close to where the patient is on any of the islands I mentioned above, or other far out areas. The helicopter could land at numerous spots in Georgetown much closer to the GPHC, avoiding the need for additional long distance transport. In fact, it should be able to land in the parking lot where the old East Street Canal was.
There is even another alternative in a float plane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/floatplane).
Maybe Freddie Kissoon is right – there is another reason behind building the airstrip and we’ll probably never hear that reason.
Yours faithfully,
(name and address provided)