Gov’t flies ahead with renaming of Ogle airport despite concerns

Last Updated on Wednesday, 4 May 2016, 13:10 by

Concerns raised by operators at the Ogle International Airport and the Private Sector Commission (PSC) are being shoved under the bus as the Government forges ahead with plans to rename the Ogle International Airport.

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson on Wednesday said that if all goes as planned, the official renaming ceremony would be held on May 9.

This is one day after the PSC in a statement condemned the proposal by the Government.

A release stated that the renaming of the airport in favour of a former public official of the same name as that of the Chairman of the Ogle Airport Inc. will add to the already filled vessel of complaints regarding anti-competitive behavior of the Board of Ogle Airport Inc.

The PSC said the operators have publicly and privately have expressed their opposition and dissatisfaction with the re-naming of the airport and the PSC now urges the Government “to consider carefully the views of the majority of operators at Ogle Airport in the interest of all concerned and to complete the promised audit and review”.

Patterson however does not believe that renaming will have any huge impact on the operators at the Airport.

“Of course not… I don’t know how a name change would commercially affect you,” he said later adding “ I wonder if they would have objected if it was Patterson.”

He maintained that the move by the David Granger Administration is nothing more than a move to recognize the aviator – even if that move means defying the wishes of the majority.

“What is being attempted here is us to give recognition to noteworthy Guyanese… we have to use whatever means of recognizing other persons,” said that Public Infrastructure Minister.

“We can’t just simply restrict our identification to the persons we know – Cheddi Jagan and LFS Burnham there are other persons…we have to recognize the efforts of several other persons other than the usual known ones,” he emphasized.