Dear Editor,
I’m well aware of the multitude of problems this government is required to sort through, having inherited the cesspool created by the last government. However, one of the projects that the government should prioritize is an all-weather road to the interior. Until this is built our population will continue to be crowded on the coastline and be reluctant to venture inland.
There are, however, a few brave souls who have settled in interior locations but are hampered by the deteriorating track which connects them to the coast. In a flourishing town like Lethem goods are available at very high prices due to the difficulty in transporting them from the coastal areas. During the rainy season this track is often impassable if one is travelling in anything short of a hovercraft. Until we have inserted that all weather road, there must be a way of getting goods to places like Lethem without the stress of manoeuvring down that track.
I have a suggestion which, on the surface, seems simple and workable, though a substantial investment is required to get it started. There are now hybrid airships that are available for transporting commercial cargo. I’m well aware that many associate airships with the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, but airships have come a long way since then. No longer is hydrogen used but the safer inert gases. The advantages of using a hybrid airship include the ability to transport lots of cargo along with passengers in relative comfort. Moreover, it does not require any infrastructure like a runway. It is suitable for reaching any remote area and is capable of transporting even heavy machinery. The link below provides information concerning one hybrid airship. There may be many others like this one. This could very well be an efficient way for government to provide transportation between the coastal areas and our remote communities in the interior. Details such as maintenance, piloting, wind speed and direction reports can be worked out once the decision is made to pursue this avenue of transportation. I hope some enterprising government official reads this letter and follow up in pursuing whether or not this is a workable solution to our interior transportation problems.
http://lockheedmartin.com/us/products/HybridAirship.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28wwfGRQc20&feature=youtu.be
Yours faithfully,
Malcolm Alves
