Chief Executive Officer of Roraima Airways and veteran aircraft pilot Captain Gerry Gouveia has taken issue with remarks regarding the state of the local aviation sector attributed to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson and published in the Stabroek News of June 28, 2015.
Speaking with Stabroek Business last week Gouveia said he was taken aback by the minister’s “choice of language” to describe the likely consequences of a lack of compliance with standards in the sector. “While there are obviously those of us who will understand the significance of the minister’s remark that ‘certain players will fall out of the sky,’ I believe that it is possible that comments of that nature might just send the wrong signals to the travelling public,” Gouveia said.
Meanwhile, on the subject of the minister’s allusion to a clampdown on local airlines that were “not operating up to standard,” the Roraima boss said that where this is discovered to be the case there should be no prevarication over the issue of sanctions.
In response to the minister’s remark regarding the Guyana aviation sector being “deficient in so many areas,” Gouveia not only proffered a stout defence of the competence of the sector, but appeared to raise questions about the veracity of the technical advice that formed the basis of the minister’s comments.
“The minister’s comments disappointed me. The Guyana aviation system today is a very modern system. It is certainly not part of the dark ages. In Guyana today there is standardization, in our regulations. Of course, it is still an ongoing and evolving process. However, we are
