The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

GOVERNMENT officials yesterday toured the newly operational, $38m dollar Marsh Harbour Airport whose size and “world class” design have been praised by Abaco residents.

The new airport is 45,000 square feet – 30 times larger than Abaco’s old terminal building, and is expected to facilitate more airlifts to boost the island’s economy.

“This represents progress,” said island administrator Preston Cunningham, adding: “It is commonly said the first impression is the last impression. Because we are in the tourism business, it’s extremely important that when guests put their foot on our soil for the first time, whatever they see should be up to speed, and this is up to speed.”

Wynsome Ferguson, manager of the Ministry of Tourism in Abaco, said discussions with new airlines about establishing direct flights from parts of the United States to Abaco have been going very well, adding that the facility represents the “beginning of something wonderful” on the island.

Prime Minister Perry Christie, while speaking to the press inside the airport, said Bahamians can be assured that 1,000 jobs in Abaco will be available “very quickly”.

While he did not say where those jobs will come from, Mr Christie said: “There’s going to be a giant leap forward in employment on this island. I know it. I feel it. I sense it and my experience tells me it’s about to happen.”

Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said the airport signals that “Abaco is not taking second shelf to any other island”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works Philip “Brave” Davis said the airport was the “result of great team work” among relevant Ministries.

“Some might say it’s late, but we say it’s better late than never,” he said.

Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin noted that the there have been numerous “stabs and attempts” at creating the airport, which she said is the kind of facility that could “jumpstart economies in our local communities”.

In fact, an airport project in Abaco was announced in the early 1990s by then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who declared that the airport would be constructed in that budget year.

However, no new airport was built by the time his term ended in 2002.

FES Construction was contracted in 2012 to build a new international terminal, an air traffic control tower and a fire crash rescue facility.

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, a partner in FES Construction, James Edgecombe, said “maybe 200 to 250 persons” were working on the airport at times, adding that while he is not pleased with the length of time it took to open the facility, he is happy with the way the project turned out.

Abaco’s Chief Councillor, George Conners, also spoke to The Tribune, saying: “I’m very, very happy. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time and now it’s finally here and even though it took a long time, we are still pleased and we still happy.”

Cab driver Ada May Deveaux Gideon said tourists who frequent the island will be pleased to know the airport is operational.

“We used to give a lot of our returned guests a date for it to open,” she said.

“Every time a Minister say a date, we gave them the date. But when that date came the airport didn’t open. They eventually gave up. I know when they come back, they’ll be surprised that it finally happened.”