CASTRIES – A public debate on the best development model for the construction of the new Hewanorra International Airport continues to rage here between government and the opposition.
Prime Minister Allen Chastanet has declared that a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model proposed by the main opposition St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) for the construction of the new airport will not give the country a “free” airport, as is being claimed by the party.
“This is absolutely false,” Chastanet asserted in a post on his official Facebook page.
He observed that there are fundamental differences in his administration’s approach to the redevelopment of the Airport and that of the Opposition.
According to the Chastanet, under the PPP proposed by the ruling party, St Lucia would dedicate US$60 per passenger from the Airport Development tax to a private entity for 30 years.
“We currently receive 400 000 arrivals a year, which would give the PPP developer a yearly income of US$24 million and a total of US$720 million over the 30 year period. Please note that the cost of redeveloping the airport is US$175 million,” Chastanet explained.
“By going with my administration’s approach of taking a loan and dedicating this very same Airport Development tax towards repaying the loan, we will be able to repay the loan in 11 years,” he stated.
The Prime Minister observed that his administration’s approach would save the country over EC$1 Billion on this development alone; over $1 billion of which could go into Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure, Security and many other social programmes instead of going into the hands of a private developer.
The opposition party has argued against the government’s decision to borrow US $175 million for the new airport, suggesting that borrowing for the most costly project undertaken here would pose problems for the country in the long term.
Asked to explain why his Labour Party administration when it first announced plans for the redevelopment of the airport between 2011 and 2016, “at no cost to the taxpayers” but didn’t go ahead with the project, SLP Leader Phillip Pierre said they were going through an international procurement process.
“That necessitated we give bidders time to tender and we needed time to answer their questions. All in all, the international procurement process took a long time to be completed,” he said. (CMC)