Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo today said that the safety and regulatory oversight capability of the aviation sector needs to match the growth being witnessed in the industry.
At the opening of an aviation conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre he said that legislative and regulatory reviews, institutional strengthening and capacity building are areas that must be addressed immediately and with urgency.
“There is unquestionably much work to be done in this regard. I am advised that our International Civil Aviation Organisation’s level of compliance is not on par with the rest of the region and needs to be urgently addressed. You know better than I do that this dynamic sector requires the highest levels of safety for its sustainability”, he said.
The Prime Minister’s presentation follows:
I welcome you to this first Aviation Conference hosted under the auspices of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority in collaboration with the aviation industry in Guyana.
I need to respond to what was said about our national carrier, Guyana Airways, which I once described as a piece of Guyana in the sky. With the cooperation of our friends in the private sector, I believe that we can once again have our own national carrier. I invite you to share this dream.
Yes there was also a time when we had two Twin Otter aircraft and that we serviced the interior bringing our beef and peanuts out and helping to make livelihood of our indigenous people sustainable.
We had people like Captain Malcolm Chan-a-Sue who defended the domestic airline industry and Captain Fazal Khan who wanted to use profits from the international routes to subsidise the domestic flights.
I was a member of the GAC (Guyana Aviation Cooperation) board and I remember those things with nostalgia. Today, I was asked by Minister Patterson to sit in for him but I am standing now for him and hope by the end of this forum ‘to fly on your ambition for a more viable aviation industry.’
This conference could not have been more timely, as it coincides with a very important visit from the International Civil Aviation Organisation, South American Office, to which Guyana is affiliated as a contracting State to the Chicago Convention.
Aviation has become part of our everyday lives. While air transportation connects us to the rest of the world, it also provides the vital link and support to our vast hinterland communities. It is pivotal for the development of our mining industry and, of course, our tourism sector. Aviation provides opportunities for job creation and improvement to our economic and social structures.
While we can identify the benefits of this critical sector, we must also recognise that it requires much resources for its’ further development. I know our business partners, namely the private aircraft owners of Guyana, have been investing abundantly in aviation. The recent acquisition of a Raytheon Beechcraft 1900D aircraft to add to our domestic fleet and expand our regional operations, the impressive transformation of Ogle International Airport (designated during a Presidential announcement as the Eugene F. Correia International Airport), the increased number of aircraft on our national register, are all indicators that this industry has literally taken to the sky in a progressive flight.
But our industry needs much more than aircraft. It needs aviation security in the broader sense, which includes safety, technology, and synergies. I therefore welcome this forum as both timely and necessary.
Our safety and regulatory oversight capability needs to match the growth that we are witnessing in this industry. Legislative and Regulatory reviews, institutional strengthening and capacity building are areas that must be addressed immediately and with urgency.
There is unquestionably much work to be done in this regard. I am advised that Our International Civil Aviation Organisation’s level of compliance is not on par with the rest of the region and needs to be urgently addressed. You know better than I do that this dynamic sector requires the highest levels of safety for its sustainability.
I am aware that assistance is available to help us to improve our compliance while we, as a contracting state to the Chicago Convention, work diligently towards this goal. I urge that we work in collaboration with our industry partners and the international agencies to chart a course that will see us to our destination.
We need to address the use of available technology to advance this sector. There is technology that is available to improve the efficiency at our airports and our air navigation services.
I am further advised that we are on the threshold of introducing, for the first time, aeronautical surveillance service in Guyana, in the management of our National Airspace.
This project will continue until complete surveillance coverage of our airspace is accomplished.
This technology will track aircraft that fly over our territory and will aid in Search and Rescue as it will provide a closer last-known position of aircraft that has the requisite on board equipment.
Whilst we have been reviewing the security sector, alluding to cyber-crime terrorism; and during discussions with the relevant UN agencies, we were introduced to the idea of using drones. This technology, which has come under critical focus in situations of conflicts, can be put to use for surveys, research, monitoring of our coastline, search and rescue or recovery and other peaceful purposes, and must be pursued as we continue to advance aviation in Guyana.
I wish to note that satellite technology has been dominating aviation now for many years. So far as we can afford such technology, Guyana would partner with all interested parties to reduce the impact of aviation on the environment. Guyana supports the concept of greener skies through the reduction of emissions, and we are proud that, on a larger plane, Guyana is a pace-setter in creating a greener planet.
Coming back to Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, we need to strengthen the process of making accident reports available to all. We consider information and experience sharing to be an important step in prevention of accidents and incidents.
Our government recognises the tremendous potential of the aviation sector, which creates a ripple effect in other sectors. I hope that this conference will sensitise us about the cross-cutting benefits of a more vibrant sector.
Recently, President Granger announced that the hinterland is our new agricultural frontier. Our hinterland airstrips must once again become the gateway to airlift produce to the coastland, and to available and ready markets.
The health sector needs similar support when our citizens in the hinterland are in need of better medical services available on the coast, and have to be medivac (medical evacuation).
In this regard, the collaboration between public and private sector is essential. The private aircraft owners have been the backbone of our domestic air transportation for a number of years now, and our nation appropriately salutes them. We will continue to engage our industry partners in the design of strategies and initiatives to foster continued growth.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure has established an Air Transport sub-committee that is chaired by the President of the Aircraft Owners Association, Guyana Inc. I am sure this committee will identify critical areas and priorities that are necessary for aviation development.
I wish to reinforce my administration’s commitment to the aviation sector. We have approved in our 2015 Annual Budget an initial sum towards ICAO compliance that will subsequently take us to FAA Category 1 status, to which the Minister of Public Infrastructure and the Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure have alluded to in their interaction with the media. We will continue to work towards these objectives. Of this, I assure this conference.
I can see from the programme that this conference is very packed and we have presenters with knowledge in many areas of aviation. I commend this initiative, as it has attracted not only high level and experienced technical and professional aviation personnel, but also ambitious students and young entrepreneurs who will ensure the continuance of our rich aviation history.
I wish this conference all the best and hope that this is the first of many others in the future. With this, I declare this Aviation Conference 2015 open.
