— less than a year after extensive rehabilitation works

LESS than a year after rehabilitation works were undertaken to the Ekereku Bottom airstrip in the Cuyuni/Mazaruni region, aviators are complaining that sections of the runway are beginning to breakup.

In 2016, a sum of G$1.7M was set aside for repairs and maintenance works in the national budget for works to be undertaken on the airstrip.
In 2017, the Department of Public Information (DPI) reported that for that financial year, a further sum of $40M was set aside in the national budget for more works on the airstrip.
Several days ago, a pilot operating out of the Eugene F Correia International Airport at Ogle told Guyana Chronicle that sections of the airstrip are falling apart, mainly at the runway ends.

The runway orientation for the Ekereku Bottom Airstrip in aviation circles is known as 10/28, numbers signifying each of its two ends. Reports are that both ends, near the touchdown zones, are crumbling and the impact from landing aircraft has compounded the problem.

“The 10 end worst and that’s the spot we have to touchdown,” a pilot operating out of Ogle told Guyana Chronicle several days ago.
Calls have been made for the authorities to inspect the runway to determine what further works can be undertaken to remedy the problem.

In June this year, the runway at the Baramita airstrip came under scrutiny. This happened after millions of dollars were spent on extensive rehabilitation works on the airstrip which started to deteriorate months after the project was completed. Later that month, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) reported that the contractor was required to fix three potholes and 30 ft by 20 ft of sand seal that were separated from parts of the airstrip.

Following that visit, a report was compiled by a team of officials from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), including Director General Egbert Field; Air Navigation Services Inspector, Adrian Bassier; Aerodrome Inspectors, Nazrumudeen Mohamed and Jeffrey Braithwaite, along with MPI aerodrome inspector Alphonso Mangah and MPI Project Engineer, Dionne Amsterdam.

The report stated that the maintenance contracts for all airstrips will be redrafted by the MPI before the current contracts expire and the new ones will be used from next year. The maintenance activities, approach to the works and frequency will be clearly defined.