PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – President Jennifer Greelings-Simons has expressed her disappointment at the decision of air traffic controllers to embark on industrial action last week, which resulted in flights being diverted to neighboring Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.
The head of state, on Monday, met with officials of the Suriname Air Traffic Controllers Association (SATCA), and according to a statement released by the state-owned Suriname Communication Service, agreements were reached concerning the wage structure and the continuity of services.
Transport, Communication and Tourism (TCT) Minister Raymond Landveld described the meeting as “candid” and aimed at restoring calm to the aviation sector.
“We are also going to look further into how we can arrive at a proposal that can be acceptable. To that end, we have agreed to meet within two to three weeks to draft a proposal. We have to work on it so that we can restore calm at the aviation service,” said Landveld.
Last Saturday, a KLM flight from Amsterdam was diverted to Trinidad and Tobago. In contrast, regional flights operated by the state-owned Surinam Airways and Fly All Ways, among others, were affected when the control tower was unmanned for several hours. An air ambulance flight en route from Bogotá to pick up a patient for medical treatment abroad was also unable to land and diverted to Guyana.
SATCA said that the disruptions are the result of long-standing problems within air traffic control.
According to the statement issued after the meeting, President Greeling-Simons made it clear that she was not satisfied with the manner in which the air traffic controllers had conducted their action.
She said that the bottlenecks should have been raised with the government earlier, so that solutions could have been sought promptly.
The main point of contention remains the salary structure. According to SATCA, there is an imbalance compared to other technical groups within the Aviation Service that reportedly earn more. It has been agreed that the parties will meet again within two to three weeks to reach an acceptable proposal.
Landveld further confirmed that training for new air traffic controllers will continue and be accelerated where possible.
“We are currently looking at possibilities to accelerate the start of a new cohort. The ongoing Basic Air Traffic Control training is being continued, even though there are currently two dropouts.”
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