Guyana is positioning itself to secure a seat on the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) council by 2028, with a string of regional firsts in the aviation sector bolstering the country’s case among the organisation’s 193 member states.
Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar disclosed at a media launch on Wednesday, describing the council seat as a “North Star” objective in Guyana’s civil aviation master plan, around which a growing list of achievements is being built.
Among the most recent: Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lieutenant Colonel (Ret’d) Egbert Field, was elected chairman of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System, known as CASOS, for a two-year term.
The body draws its membership from OECS countries, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana, and Haiti. It is worth noting that it is the first time a Guyanese national has held the chairmanship.
DG Field and Dr Saheed Sulaman, Deputy Director General of the GCAA, also serve as ICAO Global Ambassadors, a designation earned following their participation in a seminar conference in Morocco, representing Guyana at the international level.
“We have never aspired to do these things before, but we are aspiring now,” the minister said.
The country also recorded a 63.9 per cent score in its most recent ICAO audit in 2024, the highest in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
Minister Indar, however, acknowledged the figure was tempered by the fact that newly enacted aviation legislation had not been in force long enough to demonstrate full implementation at the time of the assessment.
DG Field said that a corrective action plan is now underway, and Guyana has signalled it will invite ICAO back for a validation mission next year.
The country is also preparing to host the 3rd International Civil Aviation Organisation/European Union Aviation Safety Agency Global Regional Safety Oversight Organisation (RSOO) and Regional Accident and Incident Investigation Organisation Forum (RAIO) for Aviation Safety from September 29 to 30.
This is the first time Guyana will host such a global aviation event.
“We want to make sure that we sell the brand Guyana and we want to make sure that our people are fully in tune with what is happening, legally, operationally, in the aviation sector across the globe,” Minister Indar underscored.
Minister Indar said the conference will draw aviation ministers, regulators, and professionals from across Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond. [DPI]
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