The possibility of the government purchasing an aircraft to transport the President, his Ministers and government delegations has not been given much thought by the David Granger administration even after the recommendation of an official of the Ministry of Finance.
At Thursday’s post Cabinet briefing, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, in response to a question from the media, said he was personally unaware that any such discussions were taking place within the coalition government.
But he explained that during a recent appearance before the Budget Planning Team at the Ministry of Finance for the 2016 budget, the suggestion was made.
“Mr. Balgobin who is a long-standing official at the Ministry of Finance did introduce the subject of government purchasing an aircraft because of the high level of travel,” Trotman said.
“All things are possible but as I said I can only deal with what takes place in the realms of Cabinet,” he added.
He further explained that it was suggested that from cost benefit analysis it seemed best particularly when the large sums of money that is being spent on charters are examined.
“He [Balgobin] said he would investigate to see whether it made sense for us to own and maintain a fleet of aircraft… so as i said nothing is before Cabinet but nothing is at the same time being ruled out because that suggestion did come from Mr. Balgobin himself,” Trotman added.
When asked whether the idea found favor with him, the Minister responded by saying “I am a servant of the government, if the government provides an aircraft, I’ll take it, its not for me to find favour or disfavour.”
Trotman could not say whether the suggestion was specifically for domestic travel or both domestic and international. Guyana currently has no state-owned national airline and the government would rack up hefty bills to cover the costs of travel for various government teams and officials.
(Kurt Campbell)
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