(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Yesterday, shocking information emerged in Parliament about safety on local flights, particularly to the hinterland. Former Justice and Police Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi mentioned “far-reaching findings” in the recent report issued by the Public Prosecutors’ Office about recent air disasters in the hinterland. According to him, the report’s findings point to insufficiently trained airline workers with regard to, among other things, “transportation of dangerous substances and passenger safety”.
The DWT comment on this issue follows:
Yesterday Parliamentarians expressed their displeasure about the unsafe air traffic in the hinterland. Chandrikapersad Santokhi (New Front) in particular expressed his concern about measures that are not taken. He was referring to the contents of a report about a recent air disaster in the hinterland. Among other things, crew members who were allegedly not capable of flying the plane in question made mistakes, and passenger lists were a mess.
Due to the stubbornness of the Ministry of Transport (TCT), order has still not been brought to the chaotic air traffic. The community will not tolerate that those responsible will go free due to the careless behavior of airlines and TCT’s top. Just like there are laws to punish monetary authorities who have done wrong, the TCT Minister and all those responsible must be held to account in case of an air disaster. This is because they do not take such disasters seriously. Each disaster is one too many, and a reason to take action is therefore needed, particularly when the conclusion is that the responsible authorities have failed. It is incomprehensible that no priority is given to the report’s alarming findings.
