Reports about Ankoko ‘far-fetched’
—army source
Stabroek News
March 9, 2003
Reports that an airstrip on Ankoko Island in the Cuyuni river is being extended by the Venezuelans to accommodate F-16 fighter jets is “far fetched,” says one senior army source, but the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) has nonetheless sent a team to investigate.
The island in the Cuyuni is situated opposite the mouth of the Wenamu river, and under the 1899 award is divided between Guyana and Venezuela.
Although the eastern portion is Guyanese territory the Venezuelans occupied it by force in the 1960s, and set up a military base there.
Stabroek News understands that initial information reaching the GDF from miners at the nearby Eteringbang, stated that there had been a build-up of Venezuelan troops.
This later proved to be wrong, an army source said last week. What the GDF knows to date, is that the Venezuelans have taken equipment on to the island to upgrade the airstrip and more details will be provided after the team returns.
“There was an unusual increase in activity on the island which we are investigating, but the report that they would land F-16s there is far fetched. They [the Venezuelans] have no need to land F-16s on the island,” a GDF source told Stabroek News.
