With countless gripes resurfacing from foreign investors and locals about the deplorable state of the Nassau International Airport, Minister of Transport and Aviation, Glenys Hanna-Martin said her Ministry is working swiftly to effect the necessary improvements, and is currently reviewing bids for repairs of the corroded and unsafe runway 14/32.
“For anybody to suggest that nothing is being done (at NIA) would be totally unfounded and untrue,” charged Minister Hanna-Martin, during a telephone interview with The Guardian Tuesday.
The Aviation Minister said that “things cannot happen overnight” and improvements at both NIA and seaports requires her ministry taking various steps before millions of the people’s money is spent.
“Both at Prince George Dock and NIA, engineering studies had to be undertaken before we even got to the stage where we seek tenders to repair the work, and I think Bahamians have not been bearing in mind the money implications, but (also) expect us to carry out these functions in a proper manner,” she said.
“When you look at the criticisms, it is useful to see who it comes from. For example, Tommy Turnquest criticised me as minister of transport and aviation, but when he had responsibility for these very same areas, it was neglected and nothing was done,” she said.
Mrs. Hanna-Martin said she has to “deal” with the problems at NIA, but reiterated that its problems could not be corrected overnight.
“I had to maintain focus and move steadily, even in the face of impatience of some people, but I think by and large Bahamians understand that it is not a simple matter and the money has to come from somewhere … we all understand the practicalities of this,” she said, adding that she would do what has to be done at NIA by taking the right and proper avenues.
In regard airport development, Mrs. Hanna-Martin explained that the Airport Authority has been moving in a very “focused fashion” to address the challenges, which mainly concern the refurbishment of runway 14/32.
The runway, she said, was declared to be in a “critical urgent state” for the past five years, but when the government took office in May 2002, it moved immediately to address the issue.
“We carried out engineering studies which were quite prolonged and we invited bids from a number of firms. Bids have been received and we are waiting for the final analysis of those bids, which will follow with work on runway 14/32,” she said.
According to Mrs. Hanna-Martin, it will cost $40 million-plus to effect repairs of runway 14/32 alone and additional work may be needed because of the “growing traffic realities of international air traffic in The Bahamas.”
“We are now facing an issue of having to allocate additional parking space and we may be forced to do this, (therefore) it may be more than $40,” she said.
Other challenges facing NIA, according to Mrs. Hanna-Martin, surrounds “terminal development”. This aspect, she said, includes capital work and the management of Nassau International Airport.
She said she has visited a number of jurisdictions to examine international firms who have successfully managed airports worldwide, in addition to examining models that have been pursued in various jurisdictions. She further claimed that her ministry is in the process of finalizing a “request for proposal” which outlines the parameters of what government envisions for NIA management and capital development.
“We anticipate that this request for a proposal would be a tender that would be put out very shortly to seek a management firm that will manage NIA and address all the challenges of the airport at this time,” she said.
Regarding terminal development, she claimed the Burke-Hillman company was commissioned to produce a master plan by the previous administration . At the time, she said the overall development was estimated to cost $200 million. She added, however, that government has not committed to this amount, but it gives one the idea of the kind of “mammoth task” that is involved in improving the airport.
She said her ministry is being assisted by consultant Jim Wilding. Mr. Wilding who is the past president of the National Airports of the U.S. and has a vast amount of experience in airports.
“He is helping to guide us through the process,” Mrs. Hanna-Martin said, but added that she did not want to go into “specifics” about Mr. Wilding’s findings.
“I don’t want to go into specifics, but he has been guiding us through the process. He came to the end (of reviewing) the refurbishment of 14/32 and gave a little advice on that issue, but he is helping us mostly on the management and capital development side of things,” she said.
Passenger Facility charge to be implemented?
Mrs. Hanna-Martin explained that NIA is one of the few airports worldwide that does not impose a facility charge. She noted that government is hoping to “coincide” this charge with any management agreement it may enter into. The charge, she said, would be an incentive for the group that takes over management of the airport.
“We need revenue to run airports and they are highly capital intensive projects. Even security is a daily challenge,” she said.
On other hand, she said the passenger facility charge fee has not been determined as yet and the ministry is presently receiving advice and examining other jurisdictions. Regardless of the charge, she said the fee must be linked to airport development.
“This (fee) will not go into the consolidated fund, but will be directly linked to the development of NIA and other airports. It may affect more than NIA, but we have not determined that yet,” she said.
Overall, she said NIA has been “neglected” and government is trying to address the neglect, which has been clearly shown with the poor condition of runway 14/32 and its safety issues.
Meanwhile, the glaring infrastructure problems at NIA were clearly brought to a head last September when hotel magnate Kerzner referred to NIA as the “worst airport in the world,” shortly before ground was broken for Atlantis phase III expansion.
At the time, Mr. Kerzner said NIA was not up to scratch to accommodate the vast number of tourists that would patronize the $600 million expansion once completed.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
