While details are still to be provided on the project, the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association (BCC&DA) is buoyed by the announcement of a major airport for the county as it will boost travel from North America and dovetail with other planned infrastructural projects.
When President Irfaan Ali made the announcement last week, the Berbice Chamber said it was “very excited about the other economic plans discussed for the region at the Palmyra site, namely, a stadium, shopping mall, an international hotel, hospital and the upgrading of the Canje airstrip to a regional airport like Eugene F. Correia International Air-port” at Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara.
However, the business body noted that its “biggest takeaway is the information shared on the long touted deep water harbour” which it said it understood “has now received concrete investment from a UAE investment group”.
“The Berbice Chamber appreciates the magnitude of this project and wishes to emphasize the enormous external and internal benefits that will be created in the Region,” a press release from the Chamber said.
Its President Ryan Alexander told this newspaper that the announcement could not come at a more appropriate moment as Berbice residents have for years lamented the time and burden of travel from Regions 5 and 6 to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) at Timehri.
Alexander said that many persons from the New York areas of Queens and Brooklyn have long complained that they want to come home to visit but travel has been burdensome, especially for seniors.
“If you do a survey of Guyanese travelling back and forth from North America, you would see that a large percentage is from Berbice. They have long complained about the distance and the traffic build up in and out. So East and West Berbice residents we see that as one of the options of reducing flight time into Guyana and our ease of travelling.
“We are happy for this type of infrastructure which would see a free flow not only for us but investors and business persons. They can fly in, be at the area and make decisions and be back out without this long travel to get back to their destination. This would open up gates, doors, and avenues for the world to zoom in on Region 6,” he added.
Contacted on the airport project, Minister of Public Infrastructure Juan Edghill said “The kind of connectivity that Guyana is anticipated to have with South America in the future and the kind of development we are bringing to Region 6 such as the deep water harbour, malls, additional hotels, the stadium…and so on, people must have alternative access to the region besides road”.
“A lot of people flying to Ogle already and they must be able to fly to Berbice… Once you go in the direction of a deep water harbour linking to Linden; to the Linden to the Lethem Road for the movement of cargo into northern Brazil and the possibility of expanding tourism in the region then you need to,” he added.
Stating that Region Six is poised for major development, President Ali last week said that an Ogle-type airport will be built at Rose Hall and a sports stadium at Palmyra, Corentyne.
The President said that a new urban plan is being worked on and that they already have proposals with the financing for a new hotel, a mall, a private hospital “and many other commercial businesses that will generate employment and create opportunities here in the region. Those projects will commence very shortly.”
In terms of transport and logistics, Ali said that for the first time government was beyond the phase of only talking about a deep water harbour, since it now has solid proposals and interests “in the construction of a deep-water harbour here in Region Six that will create thousands of jobs.”
At the public meeting his government held in Berbice, he told the residents gathered that the foundation is being created for an “enormous transformation.”
The Public Infrastructure Minister said that with a deep water harbour, the spinoff economic activity would mean additional movement of persons and many would not want the long hours of travel from the city to Berbice.
He also pointed to the planned Guyana to Suriname Bridge over the Corentyne River, saying that the potential airport would be able to also service Suriname.
Another planned development for the Region, Edghill pointed out is a “massive training institution that will include a hospitality institute” which will be established at Port Mourant, at the former training school.
“So it is not unusual to have such a development. In the developed world, most cities have their own airports. An airport would be in keeping with the projected volume of persons to the area and would be the same for say, Lethem for example, and other parts. It provides access for the ease of travel by all and the ease of doing business,” he added.
Asked about projected timeframe, commencement, blueprint and possible investors or if it will be financed from state funds, Edghill said that he would “leave the President to [make those announcements] at the appropriate time.”
