The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AMID cleanliness concerns surrounding the re-opening of the Leonard M Thompson International Airport, the North and Central Abaco island administrator has assured the airport will "be back on its regular cleaning schedule" soon and will be ready for visitors on July 1.

Terrece Bootle-Laing's comments were in response to concerns from Abaco residents, who told The Tribune yesterday the airport was not being properly maintained and was not fit for incoming visitors when the country re-opens to international travellers next month.

"People have been complaining that there is no a/c, the bathrooms are disgusting and things like that…. (outside) looks terrible and it should've been cleaned up because we were quarantined for a few months and Abaco really hasn't been closed," said one angry resident, who did not want to be named.

Other complaints included the grass not being cut, which locals say has not been trimmed since Hurricane Dorian last September. However, yesterday, The Tribune saw pictures on social media showing the lawn outside the airport being mowed.

Speaking on the issue yesterday, Mrs Bootle-Laing noted that after Dorian, a number of clean-up contracts had to be suspended or cancelled, delaying the clean-up process at the facility. The situation, she said, was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said: "What has happened is a number of contracts had to be suspended or cancelled because persons were not in place to execute them. And so, there is a need to re-visit some contracts. Council has had to do that and make adjustments as to whether or not persons will return or anticipating returning in the near future to be able to execute a lot of these regular cleaning contracts and pick-up contract and so that has been ongoing.

"COVID brought a lot of disruption in the progress that was being made in getting verification that contractors are in place to execute their contract and they are returning. That is an ongoing process because we still have up a lot of persons that are displaced that are still under contractual terms, so the airport manager has assured me that that is being worked on by airport authority to bring that to a conclusion.

"...So, we expect that to be on its regular cleaning schedule in short order. We expect that to happen before July 1. I expect that to happen as we speak and that is something, I was in communication with them up to last week to monitor the progress."

Conditions at the Marsh Harbour airport had been challenged since last year when the monster storm hit, flattening homes and destroying infrastructure. The airport had to run off a back-up generator for a number of weeks after the storm and at one point, there was also no running water.

To this day, the air conditioning system is still not working at the facility. Speaking on the matter yesterday, Mrs Bootle-Laing said she hopes the problem, along with other outstanding issues, will be rectified soon.

"Those are issues that are still outstanding and not just at the airport facility but at other facilities that are here in Abaco where the contract for the overall repair and re-installation of those type of things has not yet been done and…so we are anxiously waiting for the execution for those major contracts."

"We expect for the contract issues to be sorted out in a timely manner. I mean its delayed as we speak but I expect for that to be resolved by (the) Airport Authority."