The Ogle Airport in Guyana has been renamed the F. Correia International Airport.
The new name was unveiled recently during a small ceremony at the East Coast Demerara facility.
President David Granger in his address said he was not lobbied or coerced into the name change but wanted to recognize the contributions of an outstanding Guyanese in this Golden Jubilee year of Guyana’s Independence.
The president said as a visionary, Eugene Correia spoke in favor of the then Hydro-Electric Power Bill and predicted that water power would play a major role in developing Guyana.
He said 60 years later that vision and his conviction at the time still ring true.
The president said Correia also played a significant role in the struggle for Independence.
He told the gathering that Correia was a member of the delegation to the Constitutional Conference held in the United Kingdom in l962 and l963 which led to the change of Guyana’s electoral system to that of Proportional Representations in l964 and, eventually, Independence in l966.
Several private operators who have opposed the name change stayed away from the ceremony.
Some of them have complained that renaming could give an advantage to the Correia group of companies which operates an airline out of the airport and other businesses.
