… GCAA official predicts at induction of new Board

NOW that a new Board is in place just when Guyana is about to strike “liquid gold”, the perception abroad is that the fortunes of the local aviation industry can only get better.
In the words of Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field, “With the guidance of the minister and chairman of the board, I know we will rise from strength to strength.”

Field, a former pilot himself and ex-military man, made the foregoing observation on Tuesday at the induction of the new GCAA Board at the Authority’s High Street, Kingston headquarters.

The life of the new Board began on December 7, 2017 and will run until December 6, 2019, according to the March 24, 2018 edition of the Official Gazette.
Its Chairman is Lawrence ‘Larry’ London, another veteran pilot with a military background, with members being Field, Sharon Beverly Carrington, Sadie Amin, Leon Castello, Duke Pollard, Ramesh Ghir, Kenneth Jordon and Courtney Byrne.

According to the Director-General, while it’s a mammoth task to keep the skies safe and nurture the aviation industry at the same time, with stakeholder collaboration, anything is possible.

And that’s where the new Board comes in, as theirs is the enviable responsibility of guiding the authority in charting a new course for local aviation.
Noting that the safety and security of Guyana’s airspace will see significant improvement with the coming on stream and development of the oil-and-gas sector, Director-General Field said the expanded airport with its extended runway by some 10,500 feet will cater to the rapid expansion of the aviation sector.

As Board Chairman, Lt. Col, (Ret’d) London said, theirs is a mission to ensure that the aviation authority does its work, and they will try their best to lend the business community the kind of support it needs with more speed and efficiency.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, who was also at the induction ceremony, made the telling observation that when it comes to compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Guyana is right up there with the rest of the Caribbean at just six or so per cent shy of the regional average of around 70%.
Noting that Guyana has come a long way compliance-wise in the last two years, earning in the process the respect of the ICAO, Minister Ferguson said:

“The only way our compliance would have grown was as a result of the many training programmes that the staff at the GCAA would have been exposed to, both locally and internationally.

“Millions of dollars would have been expended over the last two-and-a-half years to ensure that our staff get the quality and the right training in order to effectively improve in their daily operations.”