IN wake of the National Assembly 2013 budget debate which saw, on Tuesday afternoon, the opposition majority slashing the entire $5.6B Transport programme, there will be cuts in the areas of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project and provisions for hinterland and coastal airstrips’ improvement and upgrade among other developmental and infrastructural programmes to be executed by the Ministry of Public Works (MWH) under Minister Robeson Benn.

In an exclusive interview with Captain Gerry Gouveia yesterday afternoon, the Managing Director of Roraima Airways told this newspaper that he was speechless and stunned after learning of the move made by the opposition against the programme of the transport sector.
Gouveia said it was an indeed sad day for Guyana, and that the use of the Parliament to settle political scores at this time is not in the best interest of the country’s economic and national development.
He added that he and his team at Roraima Airways operate one of the largest tourism and aviation entities in Guyana, providing vital nighttime medical air evacuation services to the Ministry of Health, and he is presently in a state of shock since the expectation that there would soon be infrastructural development, repairs and improvement to hinterland airstrips; upgrading of the civil Aviation Authority and the much anticipated airport expansion and development project have all now been axed by the political opposition without any satisfactorily detailed explanation for this course of action.
He predicted that this action would dampen the international view of Guyana’s development, because efforts to upgrade this country’s standards to equal international standards and other requirements for aviation operation have now been cancelled by this opposition move.
He noted that the private sector would soon be meeting as a body to address this issue with the political opposition, and they intend to plead with the opposition to adopt a different and constructive approach to the action of cutting allocations to developmental programmes.
He said there must be a more responsible approach to the situation, wherein the opposition must be made to justify its action taken, and show the people why it has disapproved certain programmes in the House; and this must not be done for political mileage and to settle personal political scores.
He said there is need for detailed investigation of the various programmes in order to see where necessary adjustments in spending could be implemented, but he was particularly concerned about the negative consequences the cuts made to the transport budget would have on aviation safety and the general upgrading of aviation standards.
“Already, we are struggling with issues of capacity for rapid response to search-and-rescue and aircraft accident investigation,” he said, adding that the private sector is a strong advocate for an independent accident investigation board, since the Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) cannot, and should not, be conducting accident investigations, because it would create a major conflict of interest issue, because the GCAA itself is being investigated in those investigations.
The responsibility of an aviation authority in any country is to establish and enforce aviation regulations for the safety of all, he said.
Asked about his thoughts concerning the investigation conducted on the Digital World Mapping Inc. N27 FT Piper Aztec aircraft which crashed in the Sparendaam Housing Scheme two Saturdays ago, Gouveia said the cause of the accident is still to be determined, as an independent investigation commission should commence this mandate.
He added that the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority cannot, at this time, investigate itself, since it is the sole agency for enforcing safety regulations regarding all local and international aircraft operating within the airspace of Guyana.
He noted it is mandatory that a number of requirements have to be met before an aircraft can be certified to operate locally in Guyana, and one of the big questions is whether this was done with the necessary due diligence.
“We need the investigation to independently ascertain verification and inspection of the pilot’s personal licensing documents had been done, including medical, insurance, and competence to operate the aircraft for the mission it was designated to execute here in Guyana. We also need to know if the inspection of all documents was done at it relates to the airworthiness of the aircraft and its maintenance programme while stationed in Guyana, along with the examination of the  documents of the maintenance of the personnel to execute such services during the period of its operation here in Guyana. These are some of the requirements and questions to be answered,” he said.
To date, no interim report or word from the authorities has been forthcoming on the investigation and the possible cause of the aircraft accident, which left the rural community of Sparendaam shocked, two homes destroyed, and the pilot and survey technician dead from the crash, along with total destruction of the aircraft.
Numerous calls made by leading aviation experts for the responsible agencies to establish a national search and rescue unit which should fall under the umbrella of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), along with the need to establish an independent aircraft accident investigation and safety board, are still to receive response as more and more accidents and incidents involving aircraft occur.