The runway at Kaieteur Falls needs expansion, and experts are trying to determine how best to do that given that the Kaieteur National Park is a protected area and there are concerns about disruption to the environment.
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) is backing the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) in their lobby for a 500ft extension of the runway at the world-famous waterfall.
President of THAG Mitra Ramkumar, during the organization’s annual dinner on Friday last, said the Association and GTA have been working with the Public Infrastructure Ministry to assess the runway at Kaieteur.
He spoke briefly on the plans for the runway after an evaluation by a team of technical experts.
“GTA and THAG have set up a list of priority infrastructure for the tourism sector so we met with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and immediately from that engagement we had a visit of the technical team to Kaieteur Falls to do an assessment to extend the runway,” Ramkumar said.
Following the assessment, engineers from the Public Infrastructure Ministry alerted him that the runway can be extended another 500 feet.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Roraima Airways and Chairman of the PSC, Gerry Gouveia told the News Room that he sees the potential extension as an important and necessary upgrade despite cries that parts of the surrounding environment may have to be sacrificed.
He said that pilots who utilize the runway need to be able to operate safely and commended the Government for listening to the plea of the private sector.
“The Kaieteur runway is crucial and critical and while the Kaieteur runway is in the national park and while there are people who may talk about the preservation of the environment and the wildlife, human life must still remain the number one priority for us,” Gouveia expressed.
