Barbados is lending Guyana 30 portable runway lights to facilitate night landings at the Cheddi Jagan Internationl Airport, Timehri by tomorrow while the engineers who installed the current lighting system are expected back to resolve the current problems.
Transport Minister Robeson Benn told reporters at a press conference yesterday that while government has been trying to source replacement lights from the UK, Australia and elsewhere, Barbados has offered its assistance. The lights are expected sometime today. The airport has since issued a notice informing airlines that night landings remain suspended for last night and today and every effort was being made to restart operations.
The lights are solar-powered and together weigh 1000 lbs. Benn said this type of light which is approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation costs US$2,500 each but those the airport has in stock cost about 300 to 400 pounds sterling each. He said as far as he knows Guyana is only paying the freight costs for the lights from Barbados. Meanwhile, government is exploring whether it will procure 60 portable lights but the delivery time is crucial.
The lights will complement the airport’s 30 in stock and will facilitate night time landing for larger aircraft. The portable lights are of a high standard and are uni-directional, the minister said. He reiterated that heavy lightning was the reason that the lights have malfunctioned and though the country is experiencing normal June-month weather, heavy thunderstorms had occurred until July month-end. Benn pointed out that on July 29, in particular, staff at the terminal building had panicked and quickly evacuated after a significant lightning strike which damaged the circuits of the lighting system and other operational facilities including radio and communication equipment and computers.
He said from time to time engineers have managed to restart the system using spares but this has since been exhausted. They are now trying to identify the damaged sections of the cable. Additional lights, connectors and other attachments have to be imported to repair the defective system. As regard the bigger issue of earthing at the airport Benn said government and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company and the Guyana Power and Light are working on putting additional systems in place to ensure that there is a greater buffer to cater for similar events.
In response to a question about using the portable runway lights from the Ogle Airport Incorporated to facilitate night landings at Timehri, Benn said those lights did not have the intensity needed to allow larger passenger aircraft to land. “They must have certain specifications and those ones would have to be weighted down since they could easily be blown away or vacuumed up by the engine of the larger aircraft,” he said.
Meantime, Caribbean Airlines continues to be the most affected airline. Yesterday Country Manager Carlton DeFour told Stabroek News that following the issuing of a formal notice by the airport the airline has made alternate plans. He said passengers in-transit in Trinidad will stay in that country and be flown to Guyana during the early morning hours. At the same time DeFour said he hopes the situation is remedied soon. (Heppilena Ferguson)
