Approximately six to eight requests for flights to transport oil and gas sector workers into Guyana by ExxonMobil have been granted approval by the National COVID-19 Task Force, according to Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director General Egbert Field.
Approximately 70 passengers arrived on a British Airways 787-8 Dreamliner yesterday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) with workers from ExxonMobil and companies offering support services. A flight also departed with workers on the same plane.
Field yesterday told Stabroek News that his agency checks off the paperwork, including certification and compliance, before recommending approval.
Asked who monitors the workers who are flown into the country during their quarantine period, the head of the GCAA said that responsibility lies with the Ministry of Public Health and immigration personnel.
The employees that came into the country are required to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine at a city facility, where they are monitored consistently for COVID-19 symptoms. They were transported from the CJIA to the facility under strict safety guidelines.
The company has said that its offshore workers are placed at a private city observation facility, and must undergo a 14-day observation period as part of mitigation and rigid safety measures against the novel coronavirus before they are allowed to fly onboard the FPSO in the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana.
“Rotational workers are being staged at this temporary facility to ensure that they are healthy and virus-free before and after they go offshore,” the company’s Public and Government Affairs Advisor Janelle Persaud had told this newspaper.
“…we also want to play our part to help stop the spread of the virus here in Guyana,” she assured.
In addition, Persaud had told this newspaper that there are medical personnel onboard all of the company’s offshore facilities and they are “taking necessary precautions to monitor the health of the workers and provide appropriate treatment and care.”
The country’s international airports remain closed until June 3.
Observers have said that the ease with which oil workers are being permitted into the country should easily pave the way for the return of Carter Center observers for the vote recount as long as they conform to COVID-19 regulations. The Center had been hoping to return here on May 4th but it had not gotten clearance.
