Gov’t may invest in airline service if hinterland flight costs continue to ‘unfairly’ rise – Jagdeo 

Should commercial airline operators operating in Guyana’s hinterland areas continue to unfairly hike the cost of flights, the government will invest in an airline service, according to Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.

The Vice President acknowledged that there are instances where the cost to transport people and goods increases intermittently, placing a significant burden on villagers in Indigenous communities.

Jagdeo said the government has engaged commercial flight operators on this matter. However, he said, the operators claim that “middlemen” are involved in chartering the flights and then charging higher rates when passengers are flown or freight transported.

Even so, Jagdeo said the government will intervene as necessary.

“If they can’t be reasonable about these rates, then the government will invest in a commercial arm of the Guyana Defence Force to compete with them.

“…We may very well buy four more aircraft to do this in the next term in office,” Jagdeo told the Toshaos on Tuesday.

His statement earned him rousing applause from the Toshaos gathered at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal for this year’s National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference.

And he reiterated, “We are going to operate a government service if we can’t solve the gouging of market, (that is), unfairly increasing the rates.”

He also assured the leaders that the government will continue to upgrade and expand airstrips.