The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

SINCE the acquisition of the Grand Bahama International Airport, the government has seen $3.6m in operational losses a year, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said yesterday.

He said very few repairs have been done since the airport was acquired under the previous Minnis administration in April 2021.

Due to the state of disrepair and the slow pace to complete the work, the minister said, the United States government has decided to cease pre-clearance operations at the airport.

“The sellers took the insurance money,” Mr Cooper, who is also Tourism, Investments and Aviation Minister, told the House of Assembly.

“We spent in the region of $1m up front and we inherited the ongoing operational losses to the tune of $300,000 odd of a total of roughly $3.6m per annum and since the acquisition very little has been done.

“One of the highlights of the Grand Bahama International Airport has long been its pre-clearance facility. Since the airport was destroyed during the storm the US has relocated some of its resources and suspended pre-clearance at that location.

“We have recently been informed by the US government that given the ongoing indefinite suspension of pre-clearance service at Grand Bahama International Airport and the slow state of the reconstruction of the airport, that the US government has initiated a process to cease pre-clearance operations at the Grand Bahama International Airport.

“Our partners in the US government have assured us that it remains committed to the agreement between the government of the United States of America and the government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas pre-clearance entered in 1947.”

He said the US has advised they looked forward to upcoming pre-clearance consultation group meetings as an opportunity to further enhance the successful collaboration facilitating and securing travels between both countries.

In the meantime, the government would begin the remedial work at the airport.

This will include the reinstallation of generators to ensure instances of lighting delays at night will not recur.

“We’ll be investing in the elevators immediately to ensure that our Bahamian citizens who work at the tower will be able to access their work space more efficiently. I had the occasion to walk these steps and I was exercised physically and mentally that our employees would have to do this. Sometimes two, three, times a day.

“We are gonna do something about it, Madam Speaker,” he continued.

“We want to assure the Bahamian people that we are building a world class airport in Grand Bahama and throughout the country. In fact, and very shortly you will hear more about the possibilities of public private partnership also open to participation for these airports and I say to the people of Grand Bahama, the Grand Bahama International Airport in this process of PPPs will be our absolute priority as we see it as significant in encouraging investment to the island and moving this island along back to its place of prominence.

“In the meantime, we’ll continue some remedial work to ensure that working conditions of Bahamians and residents will move Grand Bahama and it’s people along to better working conditions and a better environment on this airport for the travelling public,” Mr Cooper said.