Mr. Jones asked his guests, Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin and Minister of Public Works and Utilities Bradley Roberts, to state when travelers can expect a total revamp of the country’s main gateway.
In response, Mrs. Hanna-Martin started to outline several initiatives taken on by her ministry, including months of traveling to and touring international airports, and the hiring of a security company and consultant to direct the management at the NIA.
Mr. Jones however, interrupted with, “You did not answer my question. We keep hearing from American aviation officials about the state of our airport, that it’s not up to par and the Government continues to plan and say that it has reports. When are we going to have some resolution to this problem?”
With obviously increasing emotion, Mrs. Hanna-Martin responded: “What do you want me to say, next week, next two weeks we will have something. Let me ask you…”
But Mr. Jones interrupted her again. “Your Government has been elected for five years,” he said, asking, “When do you think in this five-year term, that the problems that we have at that airport will be resolved?”
Instead of directly answering the talk show host’s question, the minister asked whether he was referring to former United States Ambassador to The Bahamas J. Richard Blankenship when he referred to “American aviation officials.”
He said he was referring to American travelers and international aviation agencies.
The minister then advised that repairs have begun on NIA’s main runway. She said that various international models for terminal development are being studied, after which a recommendation will be presented to Cabinet.
“You want me to give you a time span, I can’t do that, but I can tell you that we are actively engaged in a continuous process. I am not sitting home watching One Life to Live and the Young and the Restless, we are working on a daily basis for this country,” said Mrs. Hanna-Martin.
A total revamp will cost taxpayers some $2 million, she said.
With the Airport Authority currently operating the NIA, Mr. Jones asked whether it was up to the task.
Mrs. Hanna-Martin said there is a need to transfer technology at the facility, but “Anyone who could tell me that a Bahamian cannot run an airport, I cannot accept that…”
Stopping the minister in mid-sentence, Mr. Jones said that the “bottom line is that your Government is not satisfied with current management at the airport.”
“The bottom line now is we need a jump start, we need the foundation laid for the development of the Nassau International Airport,” Mrs. Hanna-Martin responded.
Turning to Works Minister Bradley Roberts, Mr. Jones asked about daily maintenance procedures.
Mr. Roberts answered: “You cannot expect for a plan to be drawn today, for the tree to go up and pluck fruit from the tree in one day… In reality, it takes time to build.”
He further stressed that while it is the airport’s management and government ministries’ job to maintain the facility, travelers and workers are equally responsible.
Mr. Roberts said that when now-Opposition leader Senator Tommy Turnquest was Minister of Public Works and Utilities under the former government, a company was contracted to restore rest rooms at the NIA, but within months, the rest rooms had deteriorated.
“I asked myself the question: Who caused the deterioration to the public rest rooms. It is the users that caused the deterioration. While it is the Government’s responsibility to maintain them, it is the user’s responsibility as well,” Mr. Roberts said. “They should not use the bathrooms like the ones they use at home, nasty and don’t care. When you use a public facility you should use it the way you found it.”
Mr. Jones reiterated that it is the Government’s responsibility to maintain and repair the rest rooms.
Mr. Roberts shouting over Mr. Jones’ voice, Mr. Roberts said: “There are 16 of us in Cabinet, do you want the 16 of us to go and clean the bathrooms?”
“No, you should ensure, minister, that the management team at the airport is up to task and doing the job at the airport,” insisted Mr. Jones. “When you go to airports in the United States, those persons don’t put the blame of the state of the bathrooms on its users, but you see them clean. Why is it that we have this problem in The Bahamas?”
To this, Mr. Roberts replied: “People are people… This was a problem under the former administration and the administration prior to that. This is a vexing problem, this is a continuous problem, and I am making a direct appeal to our people. We can do better and we will.”
Maintaining his position, Mr. Jones continued: “I walk through the airport and when I look at the air condition ducts, they are filthy all the time. You can plant corn in these things and they will grow ears on those air condition ducts. Don’t blame the public for that.”
Resisting Mrs. Hanna-Martin’s attempt to get a word in, Mr. Jones continued, “You cannot bring yourself to agree that the maintenance programme at the airport is lacking.”
Finally getting a word in, the Aviation Minister insisted that improvements have been made to airport maintenance and it was continuing every day.
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
