The Ministry of Public Infrastructure has submitted an application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an Environmental Authorisation, for the proposed upgrade of the Lethem Aerodrome.
The proposed upgrade of the aerodrome will improve the Georgetown – Lethem air transportation link and may entail but not be limited to activities such as rehabilitation and construction of a paved apron, visual aids, lighting system, construction of buildings/structure such as tower control, passenger arrival and departure terminals, rescue and fire-fighting services capacity, a security system, etc, the EPA said in an ad in yesterday’s Guyana Chronicle.
The agency said that it envisaged that the execution of these activities may have some degree of environmental impacts to the surrounding communities. As such, in keeping with the Environmental Protection Act, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be required for such a development before any decision to approve or reject the proposed project.
The EPA invited members of the public within 28 days of the publishing of the notice, to make written submissions to the agency, setting out those questions and matters which they require to be answered or considered in the EIA.
Stabroek News had previously reported that Guyana had accessed grant funding from the United Kingdom for the upgrade of the Lethem aerodrome.
Under the £300 million United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF), Guyana was allocated £53.2 million (around $16 billion) by the UK for a range of projects. UKCIF is an ambitious investment undertaken by the UK, which will provide grant funding to improve or create new infrastructure such as roads, bridges and ports to help drive economic growth and development in nine countries across the Caribbean region. The then UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced the launch of the £300 million fund during his trip to Jamaica in September 2015.
In August last year, Stabroek News reported that the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved funding in the amount of US$4.4 million ($900m) to help Guyana enhance its transportation sector, and support the development of interior communities. According to a release from the CDB, the funds will be used to finance feasibility studies and designs for the construction of a new bridge at Wismar, the upgrade of the Lethem aerodrome and a new transport terminal at Parika. The CDB is administering the funds from the UKCIF.
