President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday unveiled the cornerstone of the new Ogle Aerodrome marking the commencement of the construction phase of the privately-funded expansion project, estimated to be completed in four years.

The project intends to make the Ogle Aerodrome Guyana’s second international airport with upgraded facilities for officials of Immigration, Customs, Air Traffic Control and health and fire services.

The project had met with much opposition from groups, including nearby residents who had concerns about noise and drainage. According to the Ogle Airport Inc, some US$659,945 has been budgeted for the first five years during which the construction is to take place.

The new airport should provide Guyanese with a convenient option to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri, according to the Ogle developers.

Jagdeo said his government supported the project because it was good for the country. “I want to see this as an important part of a larger national plan [for development].”

According to the Ogle Airport Inc (OAI) the first phase of the expansion will entail the construction of an 800-metre runway and in the second phase, an extension to the runway measuring 1,199 metres will be constructed. The current runway is approximately 600 metres, according to an engineer working on the site.

At the end of the second phase, the airport will have the capacity to accommodate passenger aircraft in the class of the Twin Turbo Prop Dash 8 - 300. The airport will provide a direct passenger and cargo link to the Caribbean and neighbouring countries.

Secretary General of Caricom, Edwin Carrington said the airport would be convenient for the Caricom Headquarters being built at Liliendaal.

Eight aircraft operators now maintain a fleet of 34 aircraft at Ogle, serving as a domestic hub for all light aircraft, moving some 50,000 passengers and 1,800 tons of cargo per year.

This currently represents an investment of approximately US$5M in fixed assets and US$10M in aviation equipment and aircraft, OAI says.

The completed airport will see 200 passengers being able to be processed at one time and will allow for all regional aircraft in the 14 to 50-passenger range.

Speaking on behalf of the Ogle Airport Inc Chairman Michael Correia said that an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study haddetermined that the private investment option was feasible and it had been recommended that the airport be placed in private hands.

He said the government had offered this option to members of the Aircraft Owners Association and on May 10, 2000, a consortium of aircraft owners formed Ogle Airport Inc and entered into negotiations with government to develop the aerodrome into a full international municipal airport. This new facility would comply with International Safety Standards required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, he noted.

On November 5, 2001, OAI concluded a Lease Agreement for the airport with the government and in December 1, 2001, OAI assumed management and operation of the airport.

Over a period of five years, from 1998 to 2002, three Environmental Impact Assessments were conducted with regard to the airport’s expansion and development, Correia said. In July 2002, the OAI presented the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the final EIA and an Environmental Management Plan (EMP). The EPA issued an Environmental Permit to OAI on July 16 2003 which authorised the construction and operation of the Ogle Airport Expansion Project.

The expansion of the airport is also slated to bring 300 skilled and unskilled jobs, according to the developers.

According to the group, which had lobbied against the expansion, the drainage proposal for the expansion ignores the under-capacity of the Guyana Sugar Corpora-tion (GUYSUCO) drainage system to accommodate the run-off water from the aerodrome. The group felt also that construction management had not been significantly addressed and that the mitigation measures were mostly for impacts occurring in the operational stage of the project. At that stage, the EPA was of the view that the construction stage of the project should have been given more prominence.

It had been agreed by the EPA, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) consultants and the developers that there would have been certain adjustments to the Environmental Manage-ment Plan, for which additional information was submitted. These adjustments to the EMP were made, according to Correia.

The event saw the attendance of various members of the Diplomatic Corps including United States Ambassador Roland Bullen; Canadian High Commis-sioner Serge Marcoux; British High Commissioner Stephen Hiscock; and Brazilian Ambassador Ney Do Prado Dieguez. Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manzoor Nadir and Minister of Public Works Anthony Xavier were also present.