Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill has said that the government is aware of the importance of the Eteringbang Airstrip and as such is pushing to complete the project.
This airstrip is one of the main points of entry in an area dominated by mining activities and is also close to the Venezuelan border, just where the Cuyuni River separates the two countries.
People living and working in proximity to the border have complained about harassment from Venezuelan border patrol and gangs, especially now that the river remains now the only means of getting around, as the airstrip is under construction.
Edghill, without commenting on the security issue, said, “The work continues, we will like to get it done as fast as possible because we know the seriousness of it.
“We didn’t have to wait for people to complain to say that we need an Eteringbang airstrip, we knew that we needed to get it done.”
The minister added that building of the airstrip project was awarded to the Guyana Defence Force and as far as he knows the project has been proceeding in good time.
The airstrip has been closed for months with no commercial flights going into the area.
According to one shop owner, it has been out of commission for too long.
Explaining the situation, the shop owner said that many businesses and people continue to move out of the area due to the lack of access for their everyday needs since using the river gets them subjected to harassment from Venezuelan border guards.
“They don’t come at Eteringbang and harass us. So, if you don’t go into the river they won’t harass you. They don’t come to harass us on the landing, but we don’t have no choice. We don’t have no other way out other than dealing with them, other than going through them,” the shop owner said.
“The Guyana solider playing down the situation like this is not what’s happening,” he added.
The man opined that the only solution is to “fix the airport as quickly as possible, but the rate we are going at, we are talking about years.”
