Speaking at the commissioning of the modern Paramakatoi airstrip on Monday, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali urged local airline carriers to work towards reducing the cost of air travel to Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).
The former laterite landing strip has been transformed into a state-of-the-art concrete surface runway, thanks to a significant government investment of approximately $799.7 million.
The runway is now 2,500 feet long and 50 feet wide, constructed with six inches of rigid paved concrete, which will improve safety, reliability, and operational conditions for aircraft.
President Ali explained that airlines often cite poor airstrip conditions as a major driver for high operating and maintenance costs of their planes.
With the completion of the modern airstrip, he now challenged aviation operators to pass on their savings to passengers.
“We are giving them enough time to adjust their cost,” he said in his feature address at the commissioning ceremony. “Because we will not just sit by and not allow the benefit of these cost savings to be transferred to the people.”
The president stated that the government will closely monitor the situation to ensure citizens benefit from public investment.
Touching on the significance of the new airstrip, President Ali stated that connectivity directly enables economic activity in agriculture and tourism, which in turn improves quality of life.
“That is why in Kato and Paramakatoi, within the next three months, the Ministry of Agriculture must bring in specialists and come up with a full-fledged plan to commercialise these high-value crops that we are going to support here in this region,” he said, noting that mostly young people and women will be involved in this project.
In tourism, the government will support the development of the region’s tourism sector through the landmark Guyana Development Bank that is set to come on stream this year.
Importantly, the president said that with this infrastructure in place, medical evacuations will no longer be uncertain or dependent on chance.
“We do not invest in infrastructure because it is easy. We invest because this is necessary. We invest because every community, no matter how remote, deserves access to the lifeblood of connectivity and commerce,” the president affirmed.
Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill stressed that the new airstrip represents the government’s commitment to improving people’s livelihoods through hands-on engagement with communities.
Over 50 residents had jobs during the project.
According to Minister Edghill, this achievement was a direct result of President Ali’s new policy directive to engage and involve residents in every developmental project.
Together with the concreting of roads surrounding the airstrip, he also revealed that the government has invested an estimated $1.4 billion in infrastructural upgrades in Paramakatoi Village.
Meanwhile, Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar revealed that eight aerodromes will be upgraded in the new year: Mahdia, Orinduik, Chenapou, Kopinang, Monkey Mountain, Kurukubaru, Kato, Maikwak, Yurong Paru
The Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Sarah Browne-Shadeek and Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Pauline Sukhai, were also in Paramakatoi for the commissioning ceremony.
The project is part of a wider government strategy to make transport in the hinterland easier and support sustainable development in these communities.
In the last five years, approximately $40 billion has been invested in the region across several sectors, including health, education, infrastructure, and Amerindian development, among others. (Department of Public Information)
