Some interior airstrips 'hotbeds' for drugs, people smuggling
Transport minister admits monitoring inadequate
Stabroek News
March 18, 2007
Several of the existing interior airstrips, many of which cannot be monitored because of scarce financial and human resources are hotbeds for drug smuggling and also facilitate the movement of illegal Brazilian miners, a source in the aviation sector has said.
And Minister of Transport, Robeson Benn says that the maintenance of these airfields is usually done by villagers living nearby, while the ministry through the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) conducts regular inspections to check on the condition of some airstrips making recommendations with regard to these.
A number of interior airstrips are in poor condition, something which was recently highlighted following an incident where a miner was beheaded by an aircraft propeller at Kurupung in Region Seven (Cuyuni/ Mazaruni). The miner, Hubert Lindo, had run onto the airstrip in an effort to board a plane which was about to take off when he came into contact with its propeller. The police and the CAD have launched separate investigations, but the findings of these have not yet been made public.
Speaking to Stabroek News on Thursday Benn said there is an aerodrome inspector attached to the ministry who makes twice monthly visits to some of the airstrips. He said the inspector would normally check on the airfield conditions among other things. Asked who maintained the airstrips, Benn said members of the local community usually did this. He added however that his ministry had a long-standing maintenance programme for interior airstrips. Recently, the minister said that some upgrading work had been done at Orinduik and other places, although he acknowledged that there are a number of airstrips, which could not be adequately monitored by the CAD and the police force. He said at locations where there are regular flights a policeman as well as an airline agent is usually present.
Meanwhile, a source in the aviation sector told this newspaper that it would take a lot of resources from government to monitor all of the interior airstrips. The source said that airfields are being created regularly, some of them unknown to the authorities. According to the source, residents of the interior sometimes create airstrips to facilitate the landing of aircraft carrying Brazilians who are engaged in illegal mining. Besides, the source said that because of the wide expanse of hinterland drug lords would make airdrops of cocaine and other illegal items on airstrips where there was no policeman. "There is collaboration between the drugs men and some members of those communities who claim that they are maintaining the airstrips," the source said. The source added that many of the interior airstrips are wide open fields with no fence, and that stray animals and residents walk across on a regular basis to conduct business. "There are no regulations; if today someone wants to create an airstrip he would just clear that area and that's it. Many times there is no one there to tell the person anything," the source said.
In the recently released US State Department report it was noted that cocaine flowed across Guyana's remote, uncontrolled borders and coast.
It added that light aircraft landed at numerous isolated airstrips or made airdrops where operatives on the ground retrieved the drugs. The US also mentioned that smugglers used boats to enter Guyana's many remote but navigable rivers, and that some of them took direct routes, such as crossing the unpatrolled borders with Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela.
2005 Cessna find
Back in March 2005, the police had stumbled on a Cessna 206 aircraft with duplicate registration. The aircraft was found abandoned at the Kwapau airstrip in the middle Mazaruni. The source said this airstrip is very remote and there is no police or army presence there. The white, single-engine 106 Cessna with black and grey stripes was first observed to be bearing the number YV0880P. However, closer observation revealed that another number, YV2657P, had been covered using masking tape. The police were following leads that the plane may have been registered in the US state of Florida. The force had also been investigating the discovery of a parked and locked 4x4 Tacoma vehicle approximately two miles away at Itaballi Landing and had been trying to establish whether there was a link between the two. Several persons including a city businessman, who it was said formerly owned the Tacoma vehicle, were held as investigations into the discovery of the aircraft and vehicle were pursued. The Cessna had among its features a special drop door, as well as on-board fuel tanks to facilitate long-range flights, an indication that it may have been used in some illegal activity such as trafficking in narcotics.
The aviation source said that there are numerous places in the remote savannahs where neither the police nor the army is usually present. "It is obvious that criminals would take advantage of this and it is happening in a number of areas," the source said.
Contacted on the issue, a police officer commented that they have a commitment to provide security to the legal airstrips in the interior, but the reality is that ranks cannot monitor all of them.
The officer said that the army also has a presence at some of these airstrips as part of its responsibility of providing border defence for the country. In some areas, he said, the airstrips are in proximity to the police outposts and as such it is easier for ranks to monitor activities. However, where the airstrip is far removed from police outposts it is often difficult to provide any sort of police presence.
Meanwhile, on the issue of the beheading of the miner, Benn said the incident was unusual. He also told this newspaper that he was awaiting a report on the incident from CAD. He went on to say that the department has been reviewing the standard procedures at interior airstrips, and he was committed to seeing the conditions at all legal airstrips improved, something which his ministry and the relevant agencies are working hard to achieve. Further, Benn said a number of private aircraft owners are assisting in the maintenance of some of the landing strips. "The interior airstrips have problems and we are working to correct some of these," Benn said. He observed that fencing certain airstrips would be very costly, noting that in some cases they are part of large open fields, in addition to which many hinterland residents have to use the airstrips to get to certain parts of their communities. "We would like to fence and control these places, but there are a lot of things to it," Benn said.
Around midday on February 15, Lindo who was booked to travel on a flight but arrived late, ran towards a plane that was about to take off and got his head severed by the aircraft's propeller.
The aircraft is owned by Trans Guyana Airways, but it was chartered by Sky West Charters. The plane was reported to have landed at the Kurupung airstrip around 11.45 am, and once it touched down a Sky West agent at the location informed the pilot that there were five passengers scheduled to travel but only four of them were present. The agent further told the pilot that he could proceed with the four passengers, as he did not know where the fifth person was.
The pilot then boarded the aircraft with the four passengers, secured it for departure, checking in the vicinity of the plane to ensure that it was safe and then started the engine to begin the run-up prior to taking off. At this point a passenger sitting in the co-pilot's seat alerted the pilot to Lindo running towards the plane on the pilot's side, and subsequently the other passengers told the pilot the same thing. Lindo reportedly ran straight up to the pilot's door at which point he came into contact with the propeller.
Kurupung is one of the many state-owned airstrips in the interior, which are poorly maintained. Kit Nascimento, Public Relations Consultant of Trans Guyana Airways had told reporters following the incident that the airstrip has no fence or security on the ground.