Ogle Airport Inc (OAI) yesterday rejected claims by nine operators at the aerodrome that they have been sidelined in favour of the Correia Group-owned Trans Guyana Airways and said no single airline is in control of the facility.
“It is wholly irresponsible to suggest that any single airline exercises a monopoly or control in this environment,” Chairman of OAI and owner of Trans Guyana Airways Michael Correia told a press conference yesterday.
On Wednesday, nine companies—Air Services Limited, Roraima Airways, Hinterland Aviation, Oxford Aviation, Phoenix Airways, Domestic Air-ways, Jags Aviation, Wings Aviation and Hopkinson Mining Aviation—formed the National Air Transport Association (NATA). They said the formation of the aviation body was hastened after OAI was on the verge of approving a “draconian” agreement, where the company could seize the assets of operators if they defaulted on payments.
The document, a sixteen-page contract titled ‘Airport Operators Agree-ment,’ states that in the event that payment remains outstanding, OAI may, at its entire discretion, sell, dispose of, remove or destroy such aircraft or equipment.
It said too that the company could levy fees incurred by any aircraft or property for storage or otherwise during the lien and the company might further exercise a lien for unpaid fees, charges, costs or other liabilities as it sees fit.
Roraima Airways head Gerry Gouveia said on Wednesday that the smaller operators at the Ogle Airport were not consulted on the document and they believe that it would have been passed at an OAI Board Meeting if not for its rejection by two operators who were present.
Correia yesterday accused Gouveia of telling “half-truths” as it pertained to the implementation of the agreement and he said the “draft document” had only reached the stage of discussion at the board, where two operators signalled that they wanted their legal teams to analyse it before they made a decision.
He asserted that he has been speaking to all the small operators and has an open door policy for those operators, so he was taken aback when he heard they had made their grievances public. From the meetings he had with them so far, Correia said, one issue raised was the insecurity they feel about being dependent on operators who own the six approved Domestic Cargo Terminals.
Another, he pointed out, was the fact that while land is readily available to build new hangars, it was very costly for them. One such lot is pegged at approximately $13.5M. This, he said, was so because of the infrastructure OAI would have to put in to make those hangars accessible.
“Mr Gerry Gouveia, if nothing else, has proved himself a master of half-truths and deliberate deception. He has focused on an Airport Operators Agreement, which was presented to the Board of Directors of the airport for their consideration and which he alleges triggered the formation of NATA and which he claims is draconian in content… aviation people should know better,” Correia said.
After reading from the minutes of the board meeting that discussed the agreement, Correia said Gouveia, with the full support of Annette Arjoon-Martins, whose company was represented at the board meeting in the person of her brother, deliberately set out to misrepresent the process through which the draft agreement was prepared and presented to the board for consideration.
“Mr. Gouveia would have the country believe that the OAI management attempted to force this agreement down the throats of the operators when exactly the opposite occurred,” he charged.
Correia said the draft agreement was modelled on the London City Airport Agreement as that private airport’s operations mirror those of OAI. He also said the company could not adopt a Caribbean model because all airports in the region are state-owned.
He added that decisions for OAI are made by a seven-member independent board that is responsible for representing the 14 shareholders of OAI and which shows no favouri-tism. And while he wouldn’t name anyone, he believes that some members of NATA are being misled by one or two of the larger operators.
“Generalisations are easy to indulge in, but show me where is the evidence to support, to quote Mr. Gouveia ‘one airline is regulating the other airlines….’ Where is the evidence to substantiate Mr. Gouveia’s complaint? It is simply not true,” he asserted.
Questioned on if the board, which is seen by the operators as having five of seven persons aligned to the Correia Group, would likely show bias in favour of Correia’s Trans Guyana, the OAI Board Chairman said he thinks the group comprises professionals who would not be influenced.
Correia also dealt with the issue of the operators’ rejection of the renaming of the airport to the Eugene Correia Airport and restated that he did not see it as a big deal. “The fact that a Correia was chosen for the airport to be renamed is not the important point. It is the fact that President (David) Granger and his government have decided that Eugene F Correia is a Guyanese that has made a difference to our country and is being honoured and highlighted so that the youths of Guyana may know their history. His race, name or background is not important but what is important is what he has done for our country,” he posited.
