Ninety-five days have since passed the last deadline given by Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill for the official report of the 2023 helicopter crash, which took five lives, to be publicly addressed.
Edghill had stated on February 4th that this would have occurred within 30 days and former minister of public infrastructure David Patterson has asserted that the government is in “breach of the law” by withholding the findings of the investigation into the crash. His comments came in response to questions from Stabroek News regarding Edghill’s failure to release the report, despite multiple self-imposed deadlines. Efforts by this newspaper to get a commitment from the minister on the report’s release have so far been unsuccessful.
Patterson, who held Edghill’s portfolio under the David Granger administration from 2015-2020, highlighted his role in tabling the new Civil Aviation Bill during his tenure. He explained that the legislation, developed with input from a special select committee, led to the establishment of an independent Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) within the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
