PARAMARIBO – President Jennifer Simons held consultations in her cabinet with the board of the Suriname Air Traffic Controllers Association (Satca) on Monday. During the meeting, agreements were made about the wage structure and the continuity of services within the aviation sector.
Minister Raymond Landveld of Transport, Communications and Tourism (TCT) spoke of a candid conversation, with the emphasis on restoring peace within the sector.
At the start of the consultation, President Simons made it clear that he was not satisfied with the way in which the air traffic controllers took action. According to the head of state, problems that did not go as planned should have been reported to the government earlier, so that corrective action could be taken in a timely manner. The air traffic controllers recognized that the current method of action is not a good model.
One of the most important points of discussion was the wage structure. The air traffic controllers indicate that there is skewed growth compared to other technical groups within the Aviation Service, which they believe earn more.
“We will also continue to look at how we can arrive at a proposal that can be acceptable. We have agreed on a process to meet to come up with a proposal within 2 to 3 weeks. We just have to work on it so that we can get some peace of mind at the Aviation Service,” said Minister Landveld.
The minister further confirmed that the training of new air traffic controllers will continue. “We are currently looking at options to accelerate the start of a new cohort. The current Basic Air Traffic Control training will be continued, despite the fact that there are currently two dropouts,” the minister said.
Regarding the consequences of the situation that has arisen, Landveld noted that this has caused problems for society. Travelers were unable to catch their flights on time and an air ambulance had to divert to Guyana. The minister expressed the hope that the promised resumption of work will hold to prevent further problems.
