Beal to construct launch site town
Beal Guyana Launch Services (BGLS), plans to construct a self-sufficient township within the confines of its launch site in the north west and this will provide additional employment opportunities. Communications consultant Christopher Nascimento, who has been contracted by government specifically to deal with the Beal investment, told Stabroek News that there was nothing in the agreement which barred the company from constructing the township. "The spaceport will be located in an isolated area. The nearest community will be about 24 kilometres away so there has to be a high degree of self-sufficiency until such time when development takes place around the site," Nascimento said. Beal will use approximately 200 of the 25,000 acres for construction of its facilities, such as a 747-capable runway, a building for final assembly of rockets prior to launch, another super-clean building for satellite companies to prepare satellites for launch, the launch pad, a control room, radar and tracking antennas, a control room, housing, offices, fuel tanks, and electrical, mechanical, water and sewer systems. The company said in effect that it will be building a small town at the proposed site. A diagram obtained from the Beal web site showed that the township will include a hotel, housing area, general store, hospital, a school and a resource centre. A 125-acre golf course is also included. According to Nascimento, customers of the company will be guests at the space port for as many as ten days whenever there is a launch. The necessary amenities will have to installed to facilitate a comfortable stay, he said. The hotel will have to be staffed and stocked so all of this would provide an opportunity for local enterprises. With some landscaping, Beal intends to create a pleasant environment with a park-like facility. Nascimento pointed out, too, that there would be some 200 persons living on the site. The establishment of the space port will provide the opportunity for other hotels and support facilities to be constructed around the site. The tourism industry is expected to get a boost as a result of the establishment of the launch facility and there would be need for the support facilities in the surrounding area, Nascimento stated. He said produce from the farmers in the area would be bought by the company to stock the store when it is put into operation. He alluded to the case of Omai Gold Mines Ltd (OGML) which he said operated what could be described as the largest restaurant in the Caribbean and bought substantial supplies from local suppliers. Nascimento noted the trend that populations tended to develop around the site of a major investment and gave as an example, OGML and the Linden Mining Enterprise. In the Beal situation a similar development could occur, he said. The planned spaceport will be located in far north-west Guyana, between the Waini River and the Atlantic Ocean. Guyana has agreed to sell 25,000 acres to Beal for use as the spaceport. (Andrew Richards)
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