EDITOR: Having recently returned from a brief trip out of the country, I would like to publicly record my impression that the the Argyle International Airport (AIA) has utterly transformed the travel experience. I wish to thank the Prime Minister for his vision, his indefatigable energy and the political and diplomatic astuteness which enabled him to see the project through to completion, where others could only talk.

I particularly want to commend the management of the AIA. The staff I encountered at the airport were all pleasant, polite and efficient… the crucial element of any enhancement of our tourism product. I should perhaps point out that as a skeptic by nature, I had a great many doubts and concerns about the airport project.

It is now time for the carping to stop. Mean spiritedness will not take the country forward. On the contrary, it is holding us back.

I want to remind Vincentians, particularly those who are impatient, that a government can only facilitate. It has no control over the decisions made by airline companies about their routes, services and business interests. It is now up to all of us to make St Vincent and the Grenadines an attractive place to visit.

This requires work on several fronts including attitudes, littering, noise pollution, and crime. The task ahead is not up to the Government alone.

Ann Eustace