Civil Aviation Authority to get $705.2 M in budget support

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is in line to receive $705.2 Million in subvention as it prepares for an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to ensure compliance with international standards.

This year’s subvention is significantly higher when compared to the $348.7M in Government support that the Aviation Authority received in 2023.

In justifying the sum, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill said it is necessary to finance preparatory works ahead of the international audit of the country’s aviation sector.

“In preparation of the ICAO audit, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority has been receiving technical support and help from the South American Region of which we are working with in preparation for our audit,” Minister Edghill disclosed as he was being grilled by Opposition Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton-Desir.

During the last audit conducted in 2020, the country was found to be 76.9 per cent in compliance with the ICAO standards. At the time, the global average was around 67 per cent.

Minister Edghill told the Committee of Supply, that financial support for the GCAA has been necessary, due to the lack of prudent management of the authority’s finances in the past. According to him, in 2020, Authority’s coffers were empty, though in 2015, there was approximately $1B in GCAA’s accounts.

But the minister’s statement did not sit well with MP Walton-Desir, who asked the Public Works Minister to clarify whether the cessation of flights during the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the revenues of the aviation authority.

“I would hate to think that he is inferring that somehow empty coffers were as a result of something else other than the fact that flights were grounded and there were no revenue coming from that. And, that is the primary earner of revenue for the Civil Aviation Authority,” she told the Committee.

But holding fast to his position, Minister Edghill said had the accounts been managed well, there would have been little trouble during difficult time, as he hinted at the mismanagement of the authority’s financial resources under the APNU+AFC Administration. He said the situation was so dire, that the GCAA had gone into its reserves.

“Recklessness as it relates to spending on things that are not policy driven. COVID had an impact because we lost revenues because of the absent of overflights but did not contribute to the total deficit that we reach,” Minister Edghill said.

But both MPs Walton-Desir and Annette Ferguson questioned whether the expenses incurred were largely as a result of the need to bring the country’s aviation sector in compliance with the ICAO standards.

MP Ferguson reminded the Committee that in 2015, when the APNU+AFC took office, the country had a compliance rate of 44%, and when the coalition demited Office in 2020, it was significantly higher, surpassing the global average.