Lusignan heliport will have capacity for 20 copters
The Lusignan heliport, which aims to provide the oil and gas industry with helicopter services, is set for launch in October and would be able to accommodate as many as 20 choppers at a time.
A dedicated road will also be built from the heliport to the Lusignan public road so as to facilitate all traffic for the 48-acre facility. Orinduik Development Inc is also set to commence operations in October for Guyana’s first helicopter underwater escape training (HUET) and Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (BOSIET) certification.
“What we will do is build a road from here, which will run where those palm plants [coconut trees] are all the way to the main access road. In that way, it will be a dedicated road for operations and it will not interfere with the residents,” Director of Operations Kevin Dalgarno said on Friday during a tour of the facility.
“We will also repair and recast this current road so as to give back to the community a new road for their use,” he added.
On Friday the company took representatives from most of ExxonMobil’s main service providers on a tour of the facility guided by Dalgarno.
Spread out on 48 acres of land, separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a long stretch of mangroves, the facility, when completed, will have the capacity to hold 20 choppers at anyone time but 12 in the two hangars being built.
The choppers will land at the heliport, which is west of the facility where crew and passengers will offload before heading to a building dedicated to Customs and Excise operations. The building will also house the control tower and on the ground floor will be a resting area for the flight crews.
Heading east will be the two helicopter hangars, which Dalgaro pointed out will each hold five large choppers or six medium-sized choppers at any one time.
On the eastern end are the areas dedicated for underwater escape training and Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training. Each space has the capacity to accommodate up to 20 persons at one time, the Director of Operations explained.
He said that bringing the training here was better for this country as more persons could be instructed at a time as currently they have to be sent either to Trinidad or the United States.
This month, the company, Orinduik Development Inc. and OMITC Training Centre Guyana Inc., announced that the centre would be completed in October.
“Orinduik Development Inc. and OMIC Training Centre Guyana Inc. have teamed up to provide the first HUET/BOSIET training centre and Polytechnic drilling/aviation school in Guyana,” an advertisement in the Guyana Chronicle had stated.
One year ago, Orinduik Development established the aviation polytechnic, which it said would cater for the emerging oil and gas sector here. The facility was the vision of veteran aeronautical engineer Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hutson, who had said that he still plans to play an active role in giving back to this country.
When the institute was launched last year, one of its aviation consultants, Frankie Francois, had informed the gathering of its purpose. “The Guyana Aviation Polytechnic proposes to offer aviation technology programmes and courses to satisfy the base, middle, and upper level manpower needs for the growing industry.”
Orinduik Development Inc boasts that
it is a one hundred percent Guyaneseowned company, which Director Brian Backer assured is designed with the development of “all of Guyana in mind.” He stressed that the project is “for all Guyanese.”
The primary objective of the proposed heliport, according to the company, is to provide an independent facility for helicopter operations in proximity to Georgetown, and to facilitate the growing need for such air transport services coming from many sectors, including the extractive industries.
Its Offshore Marine Industry Training Centre (OMITC) partner company was founded in 2014, to provide technical training for the oil and gas segment, with authorisation from the National Institute of Employment and Professional Training, the company explained.
“OMITC offers offshore industrial and maritime survival training and operates as a training facility recognized by OPITO, SCTW and ROSPA (UK) for oil and has service companies,” the release stated.
“The investment which will see over US$5M invested into both OMITC and Polytechnic Center to train a substantial number of local Guyanese and international personnel within the oil and gas and aviation sectors. The survival facility features a helicopter underwater escape training (HEUT) installation alongside polytechnic state-of-the-art aviation and on/offshore-related HSE safety drilling, mechanical handling equipment and survival training facilities”, it said.
Both centres, Orinduik contends, will deliver world-class training, in accordance with global industry standards. OMITC and the polytechnic centre will employ both local Guyanese HSE instructors and international instructors to provide internationally recognised and accredited training courses for onshore and offshore sectors.