(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), His Excellency Edwin Carrington has underscored the importance of the Ogle Airport in the regional transportation network and in the effective movement of persons throughout the Caribbean region and further afield.

Addressing the gathering at the opening of the first phase of the Ogle Airport Runway and Terminal as a Port of Entry on March 16, 2007, the Secretary General saw the enhancement of the Ogle Airport as an effective platform for South-South cooperation, including people-to-people interaction.

The Secretary-General sees the possibility of the new Ogle Airport being a critical element in the development of a whole new social and commercial environment in East Georgetown, given the CARICOM Secretariat, the International Conference Centre, and other projected developments in the vicinity, with the potential for transforming Georgetown into the “Brussels” of the Caribbean.

From a domestic airport providing regular air services to the hinterlands of Guyana, Ogle Airport was now well-poised to become a new strategic point in the air transport network of the Community, and to contribute to the realization of the Community’s transportation policy and “the co-mingling of peoples”, an essential feature of CARICOM, Mr. Carrington said.

The airport’s development is spearheaded by the Ogle Airport Incorporated, a consortium of five businessmen. The new terminal, designed to accommodate about 75 000 passengers each year, houses customs, immigration, and air traffic control among other offices. The airport, with its extended runway, can serve small regional airlines and will operate between the hours of 6am and 6pm.

CARICOM supports the airport development process by assisting in brokering a 1.5M Euro financing agreement. In January this year the Secretary General signed the Financing Agreement with the European Commission in Brussels, for the funding; part of the Caribbean Integration Support Programme under the 9th European Development Fund (EDF).

The Ogle Airport is located just about ten minutes from the CARICOM Headquarters at Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana, and the International Conference Centre next door. With those three facilities forming the “bedrock” of his vision, the Secretary General said he envisaged the new airport emerging as a hub for travel in the Region and in the Southern hemisphere.