…air fleet to be enhanced
By Svetlana Marshall
The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will this year increase its presence across Guyana, particularly in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), its Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess said on Thursday at the Force’s Officers’ Annual Conference held at the National Cultural Centre.
“The operational posture for 2021 will reflect an upsurge in the number of patrols and surveillances so that we can dominate more of our land, air and sea spaces, in particular our Exclusive Economic Zone, the rugged terrain of our hinterlands and our porous borders,” the Chief-of-Staff said as he addressed the officers in the presence of President Irfaan Ali.
He said in keeping with President Ali’s desire to improve the Defence and Security Architecture, the Force will enhancing its air fleet to keep a bird eye view on the country’s territory. Already, the Force has acquired a new 412 EPI helicopter, and is currently in the process of rehabilitating the Beechcraft King Air 350. The Chief-of-Staff disclosed that the Cessna 441 will be rehabilitated before the end of 2021, while the Cessna 171 aircraft, which was one of two aircraft discovered on an illegal airstrip in Mazaruni, Region Seven last September, has been declared state asset and has been handed over to the GDF.
“Adequate officers and ranks are presently undergoing training as pilots and engineers for the 412, and the Beech Craft,” Brigadier Bess said while adding that “several protocols are being studied to ensure that suitable vessels are sourced to complement the sea assets to adequately dominate out EEZ.”
The Chief-of-Staff said the Force in reorganizing and retooling itself has taken into consideration the both the internal and external threats that exist. He posited that the external threats have taken on what could be described as worrisome proportions particularly in the country’s EEZ.
To solidify his point, Bess alluded to the recent illegal interception of Guyanese fishermen by the Venezuelan Army in Guyana’s EEZ.
“Prior to this fiasco in 2015, investments in the exploration of our hydrocarbon reserves were threatened when exploration vessels were forcibly removed from our sovereign waters,” he recalled while adding “this should never happen again. These production assets must be secured and Guyana’s entire Exclusive Economic Zone must be protected at all costs.”
The Chief-of-Staff said the Force, like the rest of the country, believes that the solution to the existing problem between Guyana and Venezuela lies in the judicial process currently underway at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Further, he said the Force faces serious challenges with regard to new and emerging and transnational threats even as it continue to combat traditional crimes such as narco-trafficking.
“We also have significant challenges with new and emerging and transnational threats as we combat booming narco-trafficking and associated activities, trafficking in persons (TIP), continuous illegal crossings at our borders, migration crises, and we have also seen the discovery of illegal airstrips in our territory. These activities, individually or combined, present threats to our communities and people! We must be able to better monitor the nation’s air, land and sea spaces and interdict interlopers,” the Chief-of-Staff explained.
TRAINING
Importantly, in June Guyana will host Exercise Trade Winds – an activity that will bring together more than 1000 troops from CARICOM, which includes the Regional Security member countries, USA, Canada, United Kingdom, France, and Royal Bahamas Regiment.
The officers will be exercised in land, sea and Law enforcement operations. “The aim is to strengthen regional security and partnership and at the same time expand the regions interoperability with the United States military,” Bess explained.
He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced GDF to re-package internal training in an effort to observe the national regulations in place for the prevention of the spread of the virus.
“Thirty-one percent of the Force’s ranks underwent all arms training, during 2020. A total 15 officers and 147 other ranks were awarded scholarships to attend various local academic institutions for academic year 2020-2021, Of Special note were three Junior Ranks from the Infantry units who for the first time a were awarded full scholarship to the university of Guyana having being selected from by their peers,” he detailed.
This year, he said the Force will continue to invest in training and development of its human capital.
