Proposed national flag carrier airline nearer

— New modern airport, four-lane highways on the cards
PLANS for a Guyana-based airline that could be the national flag-carrier have advanced and discussions are underway for financing construction of a bigger modern airport and four-lane highways to cope with growing traffic, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced yesterday.

He told reporters the government has almost secured funding from the Caribbean Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank to build a four-lane highway from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. He said talks have also begun with Kuwait for financing a four-lane highway from Georgetown to at least Golden Grove on the East Coast Demerara to cope with burgeoning traffic.
At a press conference in the Office of the President complex in Georgetown, he said the East Coast four-lane project was among possible projects discussed during the official visit here Monday by Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohamed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
He said the four-lane highways are “badly needed” because of the growing numbers of vehicles being imported into the country.
“I am pleased about that because it shows growing income in the country, and people are able to afford their own vehicles; but it also creates a problem for us because of congestion on the roads (and) the road network has to expand,” he said.
Mr. Jagdeo said the discussions with the top-level Kuwaiti delegation which included representatives of that country’s private sector, covered possible new loans for Guyana’s housing sector and other projects, and Kuwaiti private sector investments in mining and large-scale agriculture.
The President also announced that Guyana is looking to buy aviation fuel from Venezuela to allow the proposed national flag-carrier airline to compete with other airlines in the Caribbean and North America.
He explained that the current price for aviation fuel here is about twice as much as the price at the JFK airport in New York or in Trinidad and Tobago, and a Guyana-based airline refuelling here would not be able to compete with others.
Sourcing aviation fuel from Venezuela can help make Guyana a more attractive place for a home-based airline that will be critical for the future development of the tourism industry, he noted.
“We have had an explosion of people coming home and travelling to Guyana,” he said, pointing out that although airlines have increased their flights to and from Guyana, it is almost impossible to get flights into this country for August.
Getting a national airline is very important for Guyana, the President stressed.
Buying aviation fuel from Venezuela was covered in the discussions Mr. Jagdeo and a delegation had during a one-day official visit to Caracas Wednesday.
President Jagdeo and President Hugo Chavez signed a memorandum of understanding between the Venezuelan Ministry for Energy and Petroleum and the Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the supply of aviation fuel to Guyana.
(He said Venezuela has also agreed to extend its rice purchase agreement with Guyana, and will be buying 50,000 tons of paddy and 20,000 tonnes white rice from Guyana, giving local rice farmers market security for at least a year.)
The President said that during a visit to Shanghai, China earlier this month, he had preliminary discussions with a Chinese firm involved in airport construction on building a modern airport in Guyana.
He said that Guyana needs an airport with at least eight bridges if it is to become a hub and cater for growing tourists, noting that only three or four aircraft can be currently accommodated at the same time on the tarmac at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

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