…as House passes $484.2M to settle final payments

THE four aircraft to be secured by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will be sourced from Belgium and Brazil, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon announced to the National Assembly on Friday.

Harmon was at the time responding to questions posed by Opposition Member and former Minister of Home Affairs under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Clement Rohee. Last month, the Minister of State announced that the GDF is in the process of acquiring two Islanders and two Skyvans to add to its fleet of aircraft. He explained that the reconditioned vehicles which were manufactured in 1977 or thereabout will be used by the army to move its troops across the country, but will not be limited to only the GDF. It will also utilised by the Joint Services for varying operations.

Harmon, a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the GDF, who now sits on the Defence Board, told the House that the use of the identified aircraft is not new to the GDF, as the military officers of the Air Corps have been operating these machines for many years. “Mr Chairman Skyvans are out of Belgium but owned by an American company, Liberty Aviation of… Greensborough North Carolina…the Islanders are from Brazil,” Harmon stated. The GDF has requested a total of $484, 239, 000 for the acquisition of the four aircraft.

Under the Agency Head of Defence and Security Support, it is explained that the GDF has already identified financing to the tune of $213, 885,000 from within its 2018 capital programme to meet the initial payments for the acquisition of the four aircraft. The additional sums are now requested to facilitate the final payment for the aircraft. The $484M was approved by the National Assembly on Friday evening.

Rohee asked Harmon to inform the House of the uses of the Skyvans and Islanders before being purchased by the GDF. “Mr Chairman, the Islanders were for passenger, cargo and the Skyvan was for paratrooping and troop-carrying purposes,” said Harmon, who noted that the said aircraft are no longer being manufactured. “These aircraft, particularly the

Skyvan and the Islanders are aircraft…when people have them you don’t sell them; it is like having a Rolls Royce. What is happening is that they have not been in production for some time now, but there are many countries around the world that operate these aircraft.”

The Minister of State assured the Committee of Supply that issues of spares, maintenance and training will not arise as members of the GDF are well experienced in handling the aircraft. “They are very sought after aircraft because of their capability and allows for short takeoff and landing, useful for the type of airstrips we have in Guyana, 90 per cent of which are short airstrips and therefore these aircraft are specifically suited for those circumstances,” Harmon explained.

However, Rohee questioned whether sufficient due diligence was carried out by the GDF in the purchasing of the aircraft. “On the question of spares, could minister say whether he has been assured by the company that… spares are included in the package and the shelf life of the spares are satisfactory to the GDF?

Harmon assured that preliminary inspections were done on the aircraft in particular, the airframe and the number of hours flown on the aircraft. He assured the House that the spares for the aircraft are easily accessible because of the number of Skyvans that are operational in Guyana. He said too that the GDF still has an operational Skyvan. “We have no difficulty in acquiring the spares,” he assured. Additionally, the Minister of State made it clear that the GDF has experienced maintenance personnel and pilots.

“We have seven fully trained and certified engineers, some of the senior engineers have about 25 years of service and some of the juniors have about 12 years of experience in this matter,” Harmon stated, while disclosing that members of the team have been trained by the original aircraft manufacturers.

There are three training and checking captains, five captains that are ATPL( Airline Transport Pilot Licence) qualified, many of whom have over 25 years’ experience. The Minister of State made it clear that the decision to purchase the aircraft was made by the National Defence Board with a national plan in mind. He said the aircraft will not be for the sole use of the GDF but will be “available to the rest of the state for use.”

Rohee then questioned whether at any point the government intends to use the newly acquired aircraft for commercial purposes. “These aircraft are for the use of the Defence Force and other security forces. They are not bought with the commercial purpose in mind,” Harmon replied, making it clear that they will be used for the surveillance of borders, land and sea, search and rescue and other operations.

Meanwhile, Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira questioned why the GDF did not consider the use of a Twin Otter aircraft and whether the airworthiness of the aircraft has been checked by GDF in Belgium and Brazil. Harmon referenced the Brazilian Aviation Authority as the entity in Brazil that is being engaged relative to the aircraft secured from that country.

“We will certainly have those certificates before we can move the aircraft from the hangars…all checks have been done and additional checks will be done before we actually move the aircraft,” the Minister of State assured, while noting that the Twin otters are as good as Islanders but said the Islanders are more versatile and spares are easier to come by and the GDF is better equipped to deal with that type of aircraft.

Opposition Chief Teixeira said she hopes that the decision to purchase the aircraft is not because the majority of commercial operators have Islanders and the GDF pilots use Islanders here. Harmon made it clear that the price also had a role to play in the acquisition of the aircraft, as a Twin Otter costs between US$2.4M to $4M for a used one and a new Twin Otter is being sold at US$7M. Islanders are being sold at US$300,000. The four aircraft are expected to be delivered one month after the full payment of sums is made by the GDF. Harmon noted that the illegal aircraft which have entered Guyana over the past two years remain in the custody of the state. “There are still some legal processes that have to be completed,” the Minister of State disclosed.