Mr. Chairman
Your Excellency, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo
Mrs. Janet Jagan, Former President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana
Honorable Ministers
Leader of the Opposition
Members of the Diplomatic Corp
Other Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I wish, first of all, to thank the Board of Directors of the Ogle Airport Incorporation for their kind invitation to me to deliver a few remarks on this strategically significant occasion of the laying of the cornerstone to mark the commencement of the construction phase of the Ogle Airport Development Project.
Mr. Chairman, this occasion is to me a much more valuable one than that in which I was involved in all of last week in Cancun.
For me, as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the significance of this occasion derives from two factors, both of critical importance to the Caribbean Community. Firstly, it is a clear demonstration of the commitment of the Government and private sector of Guyana, to work in partnership, in this case, in the upgrading of the Ogle Airport to enable it to become an important component of a comprehensive regional air transportation system.
This will no doubt contribute to the achievement of the important goal of the Community as provided in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas for the provision of adequate, safe and internationally competitive transport services for the development and consolidation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. An upgraded Ogle Airport, by enhancing the safety of aerodrome operations (in compliance with the standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation), by providing air transport operators with an increased opportunity to deliver competitive and improved air transport services as a result of the proximity of the airport to the city of Georgetown and by its upgraded capacity to accommodate medium range propeller and jet aircraft will definitely contribute to the achievement of this goal.
The second factor, and one in which I take a particular professional and personal pleasure, is that the upgraded airport will provide a more direct and efficient link between the new Headquarters of the Community and its Member States. By being able to accommodate regular commercial flights from neighbouring points such as Port-of-Spain, Paramaribo, Bridgetown, Caracas, etc., travel to and from the Community headquarters would be greatly facilitated. This would almost certainly lead to more meetings being held at the Headquarters in the soon-to-be built Conference Centre. Delegates will now be able, within a flight of an hour or so, to leave these nearby capitals, come to the Headquarters, deliberate on the issues at hand, and if need be return home at the end of the day without any undue difficulty. For let there be no doubt Timehri to Georgetown is a tough ride to undertake as often as some of us have had to.
The development of this Ogle Airport Project would also provide an alternative gateway for the Community to points in close proximity in countries such as French Guiana, Brazil and Venezuela.
Take the special case of Suriname, for example, my experts have said to me that at present, the journey between Paramaribo and Georgetown, using their international airports could take approximately three and a half hours. The door-to-door time between these cities using the airports at Ogle and Zorgenhoop is estimated to be just over an hour. They therefore hope that the Ogle Airport project will enable the development, in the initial stage, of a direct air link between Ogle and Zorgenhoop and New Nickerie, thus reducing considerably the door-to-door journey time between these destinations and providing an opportunity for increasing trade and the movement of people between Guyana and Suriname.
This is just one example of the potential of this Airport project to enhance travel and trade between Member States. There is also the scope for the upgraded airport to promote the development of multi-destination tourism whereby package tours involving day visits to Suriname and Guyana could be promoted.
As many of you are aware, the prospect offered by this project has been one in which I have had great interest for many years. I do recall, for example, on the occasion of the turning of the sod for the new Secretariat Headquarters – at a slightly different spot to its present location – that I did express my fervent hope that this development would take place soon. That was on 25 February 1998. Though it has taken another five years to reach this stage, I wish, on behalf of the Caribbean Community, to commend the Government and the Private Sector for the bold initiative in initiating the construction phase of this project and to offer the support and encouragement of the Secretariat, in achieving a successful and early conclusion.
