–building new airstrip, acquiring aircraft

GUYANA Goldfields Incorporated is in the process of constructing a new airstrip within its concession located in Region Seven (Cuyuni/ Mazaruni), General Manager (General Administration) Thomas Henderson disclosed on Sunday.

The mining company will also be aquiring an aircraft. During a tour of the facility, Henderson said the approximately US$150,000 project is likely to be completed by year-end. He made it clear that the new airstrip is going to be used solely by the company and the government, because it falls within the entity’s concession.
“We will treat it as a private landing strip, government always has access… we will never hold back on that; but we will treat it as private, because otherwise how do we control… it is all within our concession, if they land there they’d need accommodation, supplies, and all of a sudden you become an outpost and we don’t really want to be that,” said Henderson.
Henderson said too that the company’s commitment to the government is that the airstrip will be private. A visit to the new location for the airstrip saw vegetation removed and

according to Henderson, clearing and grubbing are estimated to cost about US$30,000, while some other work collectively cost US$50,000.
He was quick to point out that Guyana Goldfields Inc in addition to the construction of an airstrip, will build a hangar as well as a benab to be used for arrival and departure.
The benab will be constructed by residents of St Cuthbert’s Mission, the general manager disclosed. The existing airstrip which has been described by aviators as one of the best in the country, will by next year form part of the extension of the Aurora Gold Mines.

PRONE TO FLOODING
Meanwhile, Site Service Supervisor and Environmental Project Engineer, Sherrall Goodings, told the Guyana Chronicle that the existing airstrip is prone to flooding when there is heavy rainfall and the swelling of the nearby river.
That in, and of itself, he said, is unsafe. However, he believes that the new airstrip will prove more convenient for workers. Additionally, Goodings noted that with expansion of the mines, there is a dike (in geology is a type of later vertical rock between older layers of rock. Technically, it is any geologic body which cuts across flat wall rock structures, such as bedding and massive rock formations, usually igneous in origin) located on the airstrip.
“The reason why we are moving the airstrip here is because the present airstrip is going to be the dike… is on the money. The mine has to expand, it has to be wider. The dike is going to be on the airstrip, and it would be a real (difficult) manoeuvre to land on the airstrip with the dike there,” the engineer explained.

WILDLIFE PROTECTION
The company, he said, explored several options before identifying the new site for the airstrip and noted that with every action, the company considers the effect they will have on the wildlife.
As such, changes within the lives of the wilderness are monitored intensely by the mining company, as cameras are set up strategically across the jungle and analyses done to ensure that their existence is not dramatically affected.
Guyana Goldfields prides itself on its mantra to preserve the biodiversity of the area to which it has been granted concession by the Guyana Government. As a result, no hunting, fishing, killing or swimming are allowed there.

The Canada-based company is working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ensure that the airstrip is built according to CAA specifications.
Meanwhile, President David Granger has made it clear that his administration will intensify improvements of aerodromes, bridges, roads and stellings with the aim of bridging the gap which exists between the hinterland and coastland.
And even as the government made clear its intention to continuously rehabilitate airstrips as the need arises, it said public/private partnerships will prove beneficial.
In April, President of the Guyanese-American Chamber of Commerce, Wesley Kirton, suggested that the Guyana government look to the diaspora for investment in upgrading airstrips in the country’s hinterland.
In a Demerara Waves report, published on April 23, Kirton while chairing the first Annual General Meeting of the National Air Transport Association of Guyana, suggested that the government seek to establish public/private partnerships with entrepreneurs who could assist with upgrading of the country’s airstrips.
“I would like to posit the idea that government look to the diaspora for investment through public/private partnerships to upgrade the many airstrips in the interior which serve the mining and indigenous communities, and which could also help spur the development of agri-business. The facilities which this investment should include are the provision of asphalted runways with bathroom and other facilities, security and storage… even cold storage for agriculture produce from the various locations. I hope the honourable minister might look into this possibility, although I know that there are national security considerations that would have to be taken into account,” Kirton had said.