The estimated 1,000 delegates of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) were Saturday due to decide whether to approve or reject a motion for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport the Burnham-Jagan- Timehri International Airport in honour of Guyana’s two independence architects.
“The struggle for independence was supported and shaped by the two leaders of the country- the late Honourable President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham and the late Honourable Dr. Cheddi Jagan,” states the motion.
The Atlanta Chapter of the PNCR’s North American Group wants the 20th Biennial Delegates Congress to rename the airport because Burnham was leader when the Timehri Airport was constructed and the Timehri International Airport is part of the infrastructure and named after Guyana’s Indigenous People.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport began commercial operations in 1945, when it was known as the Atkinson Aerodrome, and was used for military purposes. It was renamed the Timehri International Airport in May 1969, following expansion from 1965 to 1968 and then renamed the Cheddi Jagan International Airport in May 1997, two months after Jagan died of a heart attack.
According to the motion moved by the Atlanta Chapter’s chairwoman, Carol Trim-Bagot and seconded by its Chairman, Denis Austin, the renaming woill “keep the importance of the two founding fathers”. That group wants the Congress to “rise up to vote to move this resolutions to the Cabinet and the Parliament of Guyana”
The two-page motion states that the Timehri Airport was renamed to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport to honour the contribution of Jagan to Guyana, but Burham “played a major role in he political, social and economic development of Guyana” such as in the areas of infrastructure such as roads, highways and bridges, free education fro nursery to university and free health care.
Noting that Burnham was also one of the founding fathers of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, the Atlanta Group of the PNCR’s North American Region noted that the gateway to Guyana is named after Jagan but Burnham’s “leadership and commitment to the people of Guyana are equally important to the Guyanese community and our Caribbean counterparts”.
