SVG will have international airport by middle of next year – Matthias

By the middle of next year, St Vincent and the Grenadines will have the essentials of an international airport.{{more}}

Chief executive officer of the International Airport Development Corporation (IADC) Dr Rudy Matthias made the pronouncement while speaking on Wednesday, at a ceremony that saw the IADC receiving a donation of $150,000 from the Returning Nationals of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“First and most importantly, I want to tell you that our terminal building is now complete,” Matthias announced to the audience at Government House.

“The Taiwanese company that is building the terminal building is preparing to hand over that building to us on the 30th of December. The IADC will take ownership of the spanking new terminal building at the Argyle international airport.

“And we expect that by July 2014 to complete the final pavement works on the runway and the apron. So, in a sense, by July next year, God’s willing, we are going to have a completed terminal building and a runway and apron having been paved.

“Essentially, that is our airport,” the CEO noted.

Matthias stated that the one of three plants have already been installed at the airport site.

He indicated that a crushing plant for the pavement works is already up and running, while a concrete batching plant and an asphalt plant will be assembled soon.

“They will be assembled by the end of this week. So, we are preparing ourselves to start the final pavement work on the runway and the apron in January 2014.

“There are a few other things that we have to do. We have just sent out tenders for proposals from private contractors in St Vincent to build the control tower base and the fire fighting station, and this month we are going to award contracts to these firms to construct these two buildings and we expect that by June or July next year, these two small building will have been completed.

“What we intend to do in the first six months of 2014 is to retrofit the terminal building; that is to put in the conveyor belts, the scanners… and we are going to attach two air bridges to our terminal building to allow for the enplaning and deplaning of people….” Matthias also indicated.

Matthias thanked the Returning Nationals for the gesture made to the IADC, which was described as the largest donation ever made by an organization. The group raffled a vehicle and other prizes to raise funds for the airport.

His appreciation was echoed by Governor General Sir Frederick Ballantyne, who said that he was surprised by the amount of money raised by the group.

This is the fourth time that the Returning Nationals group has made a donation to the airport project.

This year, they raffled a brand new Kia Sportage donated by Mustique Airways as the first prize, a four-burner stove from Y De Lima, and a three night-stay at the Hotel Alexandrina.

The presentation was made by president of the organization Nyoka Clouden.(JJ)