By Svetlana Marshall

DESPITE the National Air Transport Association’s (NATA’s) objection, Ogle Airport Inc. (OAI), with the full support of the government, will rename the airport on Monday in keeping with a proposal made by President David Granger last September.The President had called on the OAI Board of Directors to rename the airport in recognition of the contributions made by the late Eugene F. Correia while serving as the country’s first Minister of Communications, Shipping and Aviation.

However, it was felt that a name-change to Correia International Airport would only remind Guyanese of a “sad” period of the country’s history, as NATA is now contending.

During a close to two-hour-long press conference at the Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Wednesday, NATA’s Public Relations Consultant Vic Insanally contended that Correia was not the first Minister with responsibility for aviation.

“He was a part of an interim government when the 1953 government was suspended; it was a sad period in the history of Guyana, and Eugene Correia was a part of that history,” Insanally further contended.

NATA’s President Annette Arjoon-Martin is of the opinion that Correia is not deserving of such recognition. According to her, prior to the President’s proposal, none of the nine members of the association had known of Correia. Even Google, she said, failed her in her attempt to learn more about the former Minister.

“All of us know about Eusi Kwayana; we all know about the stellar role he played in 1953, and continues to play in 2016. We know for a fact he was our first Minister of Communication with responsibility for aviation pre-independence,” Arjoon-Martins posited.

She believes that Eusi Kwayana would be an outstanding candidate, deserving of having his name placed on that airport.

UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
Besides the association not knowing of the former Minister, it believes that the use of the name “Correia” would give the Correia Group of Companies an even more unfair advantage over the other operators.

The Correia Group of Companies owns 67% of the OAI.

NATA had written OAI Chairman Michael Correia, informing him of its non-support. NATA’s membership collectively owns and operates over 40 aircraft at the Ogle International Airport and represents 90% of the aviation industry.

“This was due to our collective experience of abuse, dominance and oppression by the Correia Group and OAI,” Arjoon-Martins explained. In 2013, an anti-competitive complaint was made to the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission against the company.

“As Chairman of OAI, Mr. Michael Correia sold the idea of the President’s proposal to the board members as a Presidential initiative. He gave no consideration whatsoever of its detrimental impact to the nine aircraft operators which compete with his companies. He cared even less that seven of these operators have no representation on the board of OAI which his family and associates dominate…

“His influence stretches beyond the boundaries of the airport as he caused our regulatory agency on October 28, 2015 to expeditiously effect the name change of the airport without the knowledge of either the two Ministers in the Ministry of Infrastructure…In that instance it was also cleverly hidden in renaming two local airstrips at the same time,” she posited, noting that NATA’s appeal was successful in having the name change withdrawn.

Despite the association’s objection, on April 17 Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson gave his no objection to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority to effect the name change.

In response, on April, 22, 2016, three of NATA’S nine members – Air Services Limited, Roraima Airways Limited and Wings Aviation Limited – applied to the Commercial Division of the High Court for an injunction to be filed against OAI to prevent the renaming of the airport. However, the injunction was subsequently discharged by the Judge in Court on May 3. The association is now appealing the decision of the High Court.