Every so often we are treated to political pronouncements the particular titles of which vary from one presenter to another but all of which address one or another aspect of hinterland development. The pronouncements usually centre around issues like Amerindian development, the creation of a roads between the coast and the interior, border security, interior policing, the economic significance of the hinterland and, increasingly these days, the preservation of our forests as an extension of a Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
However, though communication with and access to these interior communities depend to a considerable extent on air transportation, one issue which government rarely if ever discusses publicly, is the state of our interior airstrips. On the basis of the available evidence, the reason why little is ever spoken about this issue is obvious. Our record in this area is, quite simply, poor, to say the least.
Discourses on the subject invariably take place among the Guyana Aircraft Owners Association, the Office of the Prime Minister and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority. Over the years, the discussions have not borne much fruit. Properly managing and maintaining interior airstrips as part of its pursuit of a broader hinterland development programnmne does not appear to be particularly high on the government’s agenda. Aircraft owners appear to have chosen the approach of quiet negotiations despite the patent absence of any real evidence of meaningful progress,
Take interior airstrip maintenance, for example. We are told that a number of airstrips – it may be as many as 19 or 20 – serving interior communities which are important for one or another of the aforementioned reasons, are in urgent need of resurfacing, rehabilitation, repairs or minor maintenance and that this has been the case for some time. These airstrips, one should add, are not simply lying disused, waiting for some good day when the authorities choose to attend to their defects; they continue to be used, on a daily basis in some if not most cases, increasing the risk of mishaps. Fortunately, despite these difficulties, Guyana continues to have a good record in terms of domestic aircraft mishaps.
Interior airstrips are important for a whole host of reasons ranging from the basic requirement that those centres of population in remote interior areas have efficient and reliable means of communication with the rest of the country, to providing essential services to those sectors of the economy that are located primarily in interior areas. Of course, considerations of territorial security require that there be quick and relatively easy movement between the capital and other areas of the country and several strategically important interior locations in the event that the security of our borders ever comes under threat.
Amazingly, several interior locations which, for one or another of the aforementioned reasons, are specifically deemed to be of critical importance continue to be served by airstrips that in various stages of disrepair or else, require some lesser form of official attention. These include airstrips at Annai, Bartica, Iwokrama, Kaieteur, Kamarang, Mabaruma, Matthew’s Ridge and Lethem to name a few. A few stand out for particular reasons. At Annai, for example, the shoulders of the runway require resurfacing and runway markers require adjusting. There is need for a drainage conduit to be inserted at the end of the runway at Kaieteur (of all places) and the runway at Lethem is in need of complete resurfacing. Other interior runways at places like Baramita, Kurupung, Ekereku Bottom, Baramita and Beimchi which are important for either mining, farming or tourism purposes are in need of significant rehabilitation or else, complete resurfacing, All of these runways are used in their present state despite the awareness of the authorities that they are in need of attention and, moreover, that some of them have safety implications.
If these revelations may appear alarming they are by no means new problems. Our history of neglected interior airstrips is an age-old problem and there is no real evidence that government is in any greater hurry than its predecessors to apply the requisite remedial attention.
Aircraft owners have a vested interest in the issue of interior airstrips for at least two reasons. First, it is they, and more particularly their pilots, who are responsible for passenger safety. Poorly maintained airstrips lower safety levels. That apart, sub-standard airstrip surfaces means higher maintenance costs for aircraft that must use them continuously. Interestingly, the Guyana Aircraft Owners Association has a higher level of all-round aviation expertise than that which exists within the state-run Civil Aviation Department and while it is the latter that has responsibility for the maintenance of interior airstrips, the private owners have far greater knowledge of the condition of the airstrips and, as such, provide vital information regarding what needs to be done to remedy defective airstrips. It is no secret that the efforts of the aircraft owners have been, in large measure, an exercise in frustration.
Having paid inadequate attention to the defective airstrips for several years, the authorities are now confronted with repair and rehabilitation costs that run to a few hundred million dollars. Whether that factor may be responsible for the fact that the facilities have remained in their current state for some time is unclear. What is undeniable, however, is that when account is taken of all of the circumstances there is really no good excuse for addressing the problem. There is far too much at stake here. That apart, it really makes no sense to be continually mouthing platitudes about the importance of developing the hinterland, exploiting the economic opportunities that lie herein, improving the quality of life of our Amerindian citizens, securing our territorial integrity as best we can and safeguarding the environmental resources of the hinterland regions, if we continue to demonstrate a studied indifference to addressing the serious and longstanding issue of the state of interior airstrips. It is, to say the least, an absurd state of affairs.
