In the quiet suburb of Prashad Nagar the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been busy since its establishment in 2002 ensuring the local aviation industry is in compliance with the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
As a result of its work the CAA will be asking the Federal Aviation Authority to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine whether Guyana can move to a Category 1 classification.
A Category 1 listing would facilitate Guyana's national airline being able to fly to any destination in the United States of America and is an indication that the CAA ensures that airlines and aircraft operators carry out the procedures listed in their manuals.
The CAA has inherited the regulatory and service functions of the now defunct Civil Aviation Department (CAD) that was recommended in the Business and Strategy Plan put up by consultants from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. The CAD's other functions were hived off to an Airport Authority which operates the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri.
Director-General of the Authority is Mauritius-born Chabeenanan Ramphul, who is on leave from his substantive post as Director of Civil Aviation in Mauritius and who has twenty-five years of experience in the aviation industry. He has been involved with the industry in the land of his birth from the time it had only two Twin Otter aircraft to the present - operating A-30 and A-317 aircraft which travel to some 40 destinations around the world. He came to Guyana in 2003 and has been engaged in documenting the regulations to flesh out the various ICAO conventions.
The Air Service Airline Hangar at Ogle.
Priorities
In an interview with Current Affairs, Ramphul, a mechanical engineer by training, said that one of his immediate priorities is to ensure that the CAA staff is trained, competent and highly professional and that the organisation as a whole is responsive to the public and the needs of this dynamic industry.
During his 25 years in the industry he has served as free lance consultant for ICAO in the Maldives where he developed its airworthiness section and he has also worked as a consultant with a number of Canadian air operations.
Another priority, he said, is to move Guyana to Category 1 classification by the US Federal Aviation Authority and to this end he has begun promulgating the necessary regulations to ensure aircraft operate safely as well to secure them from an unlawful interference.
Ramphul said that earlier this month a meeting was convened to discuss a National Security Pro-gramme to ensure that the systems in place are in accordance with the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisaton (ICAO).
He said too that a facilitation meeting was held involving representatives from the Customs and Trade Administration Department, the Immigration Department, and the Port Health Authority to look at ways of improving the smooth flow of passengers, cargo and mail through the airport without compromising the procedures put in place for their safety.
Other issues that the meeting looked at included the disinfecting of aircraft, lost baggage, intransit passengers and arrangements for the arrival of unscheduled flights and harmonising the checking of travel documents with the introduction of machine-readable passports.
Structure
Commenting on the structure of the organisation, Ramphul said that the Civil Aviation Act 2000 which created the CAA gave it the dual functions of regulating and promoting the air transport industry in Guyana and air traffic control.
"We regulate the air transport industry which includes airlines, small aircraft operators at Ogle, the airports - Ogle and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, as well as the standards at the smaller airfields in the country of which there are more than 100."
Ramphul said too that CAA also issues licences to pilots and checks to ensure that the pilots are trained, their licences current and that they undergo proficiency checks every six months and are tested every year on instrument rating. He said that the Authority does this by delegating authority for this purpose to the industry.
In relation to the aircraft, Ramphul says that the CAA ensures that it is fit to fly (airworthiness). "We register the airplane, issue it with a certificate of airworthiness and as long as it is registered in Guyana we ensure that it is properly maintained by a company which the CAA has approved, that engineers are properly trained and licensed and that it is maintained according to a maintenance programme which the CAA also has to approve, and that there are maintenance procedures in place."
He said that all this is to ensure that "when an aircraft flies and a passenger goes on an aircraft there are people who care for the passenger!" He stressed that an airline cannot deviate from the CAA-approved maintenance procedures as if they do they would be breaking the law.
In terms of flight operations, Ramphul says that the CAA ensures that the pilots are maintaining their proficiency in flying and are tested by its inspectors or persons it delegates to do so on its behalf; the airline facilities are in order and that it follows the aircraft wherever it goes through radio systems have a CAA- approved operations manual. "Every airline which is flying in the country must have a flight operations manual and provide the CAA with a manual detailing how it will carry dangerous goods whether or not they carry such goods and we have to approve the manual."
Transparency
Since his arrival, Ramphul says that the CAA has put in place a consultative process "whereby the industry listens to us and we listen to the industry.
We indicate to the industry what we are going to do whether or not it agrees with us. They may not agree but at least they are consulted."
Ramphul says the Civil Aviation (Air Navigation Regulations 2001) which describes how the CAA regulates the industry as well as details the flight and duty time limitations has been in place since last year.
Ramphul says to give force to the legislation the CAA developed its own documentation called the Guyana Aviation Requirements April 2003. He said too that there is also the Licensing of Civil Aviation (Air Transport Service Regulations) 2001. He says that last month the Authority drew up a new regulation which was now with the Attorney General's Chambers entitled the Civil Aviation (Security Regulations) 2004.
He explains that aviation is an international business and as such requires harmonized regulations and standards which are acceptable to everybody. Because of this, all the countries in the world have come together and at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) convention in 1944 the decision was taken to harmonise regulations and put in place international standards for aviation for safety, security, transport of passengers, the licensing of any person who needs licences and for the approval of aviation documents.
As a consequence Ramphul said the ICAO came up with 18 Annexes covering issues such as licensing, air traffic control, security, the carriage of dangerous goods and international air transport operations.
As a party to the ICAO convention Ramphul said that Guyana has an obligation to regulate the aviation industry in accordance with the ICAO standards detailed in the annexes. However, he says that the annexes have to be given force by the country's domestic laws and the CAA requirements. "A standard is a bald generic term and in order to give force of law to what is required of the industry the CAA must describe what it wants from the industry. Hence the Guyana Aviation Requirements which the CAA has rationalized into twelve parts."
Ramphul said that the CAA carried out seminars for the industry, explaining to them what the new dispensation entailed. "When you start something, the industry doesn't know. So we carried out a lot of training last year for all of our aircraft operators."
He said that the CAA also regulates all institutions providing instructions in flying and maintenance of aircraft and must approve their curricula as well as the facilities where the tuition is provided.
Institutional
Building
Ramphul said that an important part of his work is institutional building so as to make the Authority effective; staffed by competent people who carry out their functions under proper delegated authority.
"I would never send an Inspector out if he doesn't have a delegation from me. He must have a credential indicating that he is an Inspector of this Authority and is allowed to enter the premises of any aircraft operator or he can board any aircraft."
However, he said that the big problem is retaining staff. "They get the training and they leave. I trained one Flight Operations Inspector and he left. I trained one Aerodrome Inspector - the first time the Authority had done so - and he also has left after almost a year. So this turnover is really bothering me. I spoke to my board (about it) and we must come up with a system to retain our staff. I spend a lot of money to train them overseas and then they work six - nine months and then they just go away."
He says that an Inspector is given overseas training; is trained in-house on the job; and sometimes they are exposed to Inspectors from Caricom through the Regional Aviation Safety Oversight organisation whenever they visit Guyana.
"So institution-building is going into human resources development; having the competent people; training them; motivating them to stay; and we also have books which tell the Inspector how he (should) do his work."
He said that the Authority has a Flight Operations Inspector's Handbook which guides the Inspector in his task; an Airworthiness Inspector's Handbook to guide that Inspector in his task as well. "The very complexity of aviation makes us come up with all these things and since we have to comply with international standards you don't play around with such an industry."
The other aspect of institutional building, Ramphul says, relates to documentation as the Authority cannot do its work properly unless it is backed by the law, regulations and all the guidance material for the industry in which we are involved.
Certification of Cheddi Jagan
International Airport
Ramphul says that the Authority has just certified the Cheddi Jagan International Airport as an airport that can carry out international operations. "We are the first country in Caricom to do that." He says that his colleagues in the region are very happy with the quality of work being done here and had even asked them to come and help with the inspection as we only had one Aerodrome Inspector.
He explained that one Inspector could not look at everything at the airport as the inspection includes looking at aviation security, emergency procedures, firefighting capability in the event that an aircraft is on fire, communications systems, the quality of the runway - the pavement and its strength, the taxiway, the lighting system, and the radio navigation aids. As a consequence, Ramphul says four Inspectors from RASO came to assist with the inspection at Timehri and that was a training opportunity for the Aerodrome Inspector.
He says that Ogle has not been certified as yet but that the Authority is working on it and at the same time it was licensing the smaller airfields but to different standards as they do not have any international operations.
Ramphul says too that there is also an organisation manual which details how the Authority functions including how to recruit and train people and the quality assurance procedures as the Authority is working towards ISO 900 certification. He says that there is also an administrative manual which deals with the various procedures including licensing.
CAA structure
The CAA has four directorates. The Aviation Safety directorate deals with airworthiness, flight operations, the licensing of pilots, engineers and air traffic controllers and the licensing of aerodromes.
Ramphul says that the CAA uses the carrot and stick approach to get the industry to comply with air safety regulations.
The Directorate of Air Transport Management deals with the licensing of airlines and aircraft operators; tariff and fares which the airlines charge and which must be acceptable to the Authority; and bilateral air services agreements - negotiations with other countries to obtain traffic rights.
Ramphul says that presently the CAA is looking at air services agreement with Canada, Brazil, Suriname and Belgium. He says those negotiations address security and air traffic rights.
He says too that as Guyana is a Caricom member-state, the Authority is also looking at the Multilateral Air Transport Agreement which should facilitate the movement of people and aircraft in the region. He says that he hopes that the agreement benefits the Community as a whole.
Also, he says that as Guyana is a member of the Association of Caribbean States, Guyana is to sign another multilateral air transport agreement, already signed by seven member-states, that is now open for ratification. The agreement, he says, covers the South American region.
He said that this directorate also looks at economics and air transport statistics which covers the number of passengers moving in and out of the country and the number of domestic and international flights. "You need all these statistics for planning and the development of the country. The airports need to supply these statistics to the Authority which, in turn, submits them to the ICAO, which keeps track of aviation developments around the world."
He says too the Authority also uses the information for planning and to base any increases in charges and fees.
Ramphul says that it needs expert assistance in this area to advise the directorate as it is a new directorate and that the Authority would need to consider identifying and training someone as an air transport economist.
Studies
He says that the directorate is also to carry out two studies - an Air Access Policy for the next 15-20 years and an Airport Master Plan - which it will need to have expert assistance to carry out.
The CAA Director General explained that the Air Access Policy will address issues such as attracting other airlines to fly to Guyana which will be dependent on the rate of the development of the country and based on that information a plan would be drawn up. "If you have a plan then the government will be able to determine what policy decisions it would pursue. If the tourism industry develops then you would have more people coming in and then you could attract more airlines."
The Airport Master Plan according to Ramphul will look at the airports which will cater for international traffic and those which cater for domestic traffic.
He noted that as Guyana is to host cricket matches during the 2007 World Cup, the Authority has asked both the airports at Ogle and Timehri to provide it with their present capacity and their plans for expansion up to 2007.
"What we are looking at basically is the parking capacity - how many aircraft could be parked at Ogle and how many at Timehri; what type of aircraft can land at Ogle for example. Up to 2007, expect that an aircraft like the Dash - 8 can land there."
He says that the Authority is also looking at what sort of terminals the airports will have and how many passengers they can process per unit of time and what facilities will be in place for Customs, Port Health and Immigration as well as the allocation of space for other users.
The Directorate of Air Navigation Services is another of the Authority's departments. It has no regulatory functions but a service department as it provides air traffic control services - the separation of aircraft in the air and on the ground.
"We have our air control tower there (at Timehri); we have an air control centre inside; and we have air traffic controllers who have to be trained to be competent and then issued with a licence and then they can work."
Problem area
But Ramphul said that air traffic control is a problem area as the controllers are using equipment which is 27 years old. He said that the Authority is in discussion with the government and the Inter-American Development Bank has indicated a willingness to help with the acquisition of new equipment.
Ramphul discounted the acquisition of radar equipment in the near term, which the industry wants but the cost is prohibitive. "I am not saying that we are not going to have one but it will probably come down the line."
In the meantime, he said that the Authority is involved in a new system of Air Traffic Control called the Communications/Navigation/Surveillance - Air Traffic Management (CNSATM) system which the whole of South America is expected to be using by 2008.
The CNSATM is pushed by the Global Navigation Satellite System which uses new technology that results in the movement from air traffic control to air traffic management "because of the new equipment and the precision which we have from the Global Positioning System which is hooked up to a satellite. "You need available a minimum of four satellites to be able to get a position fixed.
We are going towards that and we are right on track here in Guyana."
Ramphul said that there are experts in Guyana working with the Authority to develop new charts based on the World Geodetic System. "We have surveyed Ogle, Timehri and some of the domestic aerodromes surveyed through this World Geodetic System which gives you the reference to these areas to a specific reference. It is very precise and we are using this system to survey our aerodromes."
The system will allow the pilots to know what facilities are available at the various airports and "the charts will tell the pilot how to fly GPS because the precision is so great and the air traffic controller will have less work to do. Hence he is managing the air traffic rather than controlling it."
He said that the Authority is trying to replace its Instrument Landing System and we are trying to get another En Route Distance Measuring Equipment (DME).
He said that for some years the cabin at the Air Control Tower was leaking and as result of intense lobbying the IDB funded its rehabilitation and the Authority is trying to do some additional work such as the provision of proper mess facilities and some other repairs.
Ramphul said that some new equipment such as microphones and voice recorders has been ordered and these should be available within the next three months.
"Essentially this directorate provides services to all flights in our flight information region. This country controls certain airspace, as decided by ICAO according to Regional Air Navigation Plans, and could be more than the country's territorial airspace. As a consequence, all aircraft flying in (Guyana's) airspace must pay for the air traffic control service that we provide."
Ramphul said that the Authority is looking at these charges so that they could be increased over a period of time.
He said that the Air Traffic Control directorate has the largest number of the organisation's staff of 77. The Authority has just recruited 11 persons who will be trained over a three-month period as Flight Operations Officers who will be attached to the section dealing with aeronautical information and which receives flight plans for the aircraft.
He said too that in September six of the existing controllers will be trained in Area Control. Area Control Officers are in charge of aircraft which are more than 75 miles from Timehri.
They hand over to the Approach Control Officers once the aircraft is no more than 75 miles from Timehri. At Timehri, area control and approach control are performed by the same unit, which is not an uncommon practice in the industry. The staff of this directorate work around the clock.
The Finance and Administration Directorate is the other department of the authority and that deals with human resource development, procurement and the accounting procedures among other administrative matters.
Funding
Ramphul said that the Authority's regulatory functions will generate about $23 million this year and it intends to introduce increases which should increase this revenue item to $25 million over the next few years. This sum includes fees for licences, approvals and certification and registration of aircraft, "These functions provide a very minimal amount" according to Ramphul
The provision of air navigation services bring in $66 million from international over flights, $50 million in arrival fees and $12 million from the aircraft that fly to the hinterland.
"We presently generate about $150 million which is less than the Authority's budget requirements. We want to be self-sufficient by the beginning of 2006. We will be increasing our fees so that the subsidy from the government will be progressively reduced."
Ramphul said that the Authority is working with the IDB, the Ministry of Transport to ensure that as an Authority we wouldn't be a burden on the national treasury. This means that "the revenue we generate we can spend to provide the functions and services that we are giving to the industry. We want to do that as fast as possible."
Staffing
In terms of staffing, Ramphul says that the big problem is getting trained, competent persons. The turnover rate is also very high as people leave for better opportunities in the USA and Canada.
"We try to maintain what we have. These are the people we had when I came last year and I can say that they are becoming better. Some of them may need additional training and we send them on courses and they go to a lot of seminars and conferences."
The Director-General explained that aviation is a very dynamic industry and it is very important to keep abreast of the latest developments. As Guyana is part of the Caricom region the Director- General also explained, "We have to know what is happening in the area. And if we are taking concerted action on projects we have to go and inform ourselves."
He said that not only the directors are exposed to these fora but some of the staff below that level as well. "Right now the FAA and Transport Canada are very willing partners and they have been helping us in the Caricom region through RASO. They make a lot of training available to us in the region and we don't have to travel to the USA or Canada."
He says that the staff is paid well as an incentive to have them remain with the authority and their remuneration is commensurate with that of the other Caribbean countries.
Certification of local
air operations
As an example of how far the Authority has come in the past year, Ramphul said it has certified Roraima Airways, Trans Guyana Airways, Air Services and Rainbow Travel and Wings, which operate out of Ogle. He said that before now they had been operating but "they were never certified because (though) the basic regulations were there they were not being enforced in the proper manner."
As a result, the Authority wrote them last March indicating that they could not continue to fly in the country unless they had an approval from it. "We started the process of certifying them and it took nearly ten months to certify all of them."
He said that it was a very long process and all of them have been granted an Air Operator's Certificate, which attests to the fact that they have been found competent to operate commercial air services. He said that the Authority held a number of seminars to explain the process and procedures to be used in the certification process.
Accident
Investigation
Ramphul says that at present the Authority has the responsibility for investigating aircraft accidents. But he says that he sees this function as being in conflict with the organisation's regulatory functions. "The issue here is whether we should carry out the investigations ourselves. We regulate and we also carry out the investigation after an accident. We regulate and probably our regulatory role was not good enough."
As a consequence, he has proposed to the government the establishment of an Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch separate from the CAA. The proposal provides for one or two persons, who have a lot of experience in aviation, to be trained in accident investigation. It will not be a full time job but the persons named as the Chief Investigator of Accidents can be paid a retainer and when an accident occurs he can then move swiftly to investigate it. He points out that the persons should be sent every year for upgrading and refresher training. To assist in the investigation of an accident the Chief Investigator can then choose other responsible person(s) to assist him.