Following the APNU+AFC government’s controversial purchase of two aged Skyvan planes in 2018, another used one of the same model arrived this week at a city wharf but it is unclear at what cost to taxpayers and for what purpose, as it seems to be in worse condition than the last two.
One source close to the PPP/C government confirmed it was for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) but stated that it was for the GDF to disclose the purpose. However, the source reasoned that it could have been bought to be cannibalized for spare parts to service a similar model.
Efforts to contact the GDF proved futile as calls to their public communications representatives were not answered.
With some sections heavily rusted and corroded, the aircraft arrived in Guyana in a container and was yesterday being processed for clearance by Guyana Revenue Authority agents at a city wharf.
In 2018, the one-seat majority APNU+AFC government had in the National Assembly approved $484.2 million in extra budgetary funds to facilitate the acquisition of four reconditioned aircraft – two Skyvans and two Britten-Norman Islanders – for the GDF.
The two models are no longer in production. The Islanders were first manufactured in 1976, while Skyvans were first manufactured in 1977.
The PPP/C had heavily criticised the purchase of the aircraft and questioned why government would invest so much in items that were no longer in production, since sourcing parts would likely prove difficult.
PPP/C MP, former Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, was one of the opposition parliamentarians who had quizzed then Minister of State Joseph Harmon, and had said that he still had mixed feelings about the procurement of the aircraft.
“On one hand, it’s needed but on the other hand, all those questions: age, availability of parts and personnel and its deviation from the green agenda… that I raised in Parliament will be ongoing issues which should attract the attention of the people who are buying them,” he had said.
For him, the cost associated with the purchase should have been a primary concern, given the expected maintenance and potential difficulty in sourcing parts since the aircraft are no longer being produced.
Rohee had described them as “workhorses,” useful for “lifting load and things like that.” He noted that this is one of the models that will be useful for Guyana “with respect to the airstrips and so on.”
Then Minister of State and Defence Board member Harmon had defended the purchase, saying he had seen a preliminary report and it “looks good.” According to him, based on the reports of those who had inspected the aircraft in Brazil, it was a “very, very good buy.”
Harmon told Parliament that both models being procured will work well on the local airstrips, most of which are short, as they allow for short take offs and landings.
Only when pressed by the PPP/C did Harmon disclose where the planes were purchased from and he had said that the Skyvans would have been brought from Belgium but were sourced through Liberty Aviation, an American company located in North Carolina.
