Pickering takes fall for failure to expand airport under NDP gov’t
Former Deputy Premier Dr Kedrick Pickering has accepted responsibility for failure to extend the Terrance B Lettsome Airport runway under the previously governing National Democratic Party (NDP) administration.
“Any failure with respect and regard to the airport development, I have to take, if not all the blame, full responsibility. It was my portfolio and I was the one who should have gotten it done,” Dr Pickering said on the Honestly Speaking radio programme recently.
Dr Pickering declined to confirm, however, whether an alleged personality conflict between himself and other serving ministers at the time led to the stagnation of the project.
“When you become a member of Cabinet, you have to sign an oath of confidentiality and as much as I would like to say this and say that, it will be remiss of me to say what I can’t say,” Dr Pickering said in relation to that reported conflict.
“I’m not here to lay blame on anybody’s feet or to cast aspersions or anything. Both individually and collectively, we failed as a government to get the airport project done,” he added.
Dr Pickering said based on the information he has seen, there is no choice with regard to getting the airport expansion done if the BVI wanted to build its economy and take it to another level as air access is extremely important in achieving this.
“It is the number-one complaint from people coming to the BVI, both for pleasure and for business,” Dr Pickering said. “So, the issue with respect to whether we need an airport expansion is not a question anymore. It’s something that is accepted that has to be done.”
Dr Pickering further said there were pros and cons for both options that were looked at in the end.
However, he said based on the overall cost and an examination of the impact to the territory, it was finally decided to extend the runway at both the eastern and western ends as it stands.
He said the recommendation was for an additional 500 feet to the west and approximately 2,500 feet to the east, both of which included filling in some amount of the ocean.
We are in a race against time
Dr Pickering noted that regardless of the hesitancy surrounding the cost back when it was first raised more a decade ago, the expansion still needed to happen, even as costs continue to escalate at this time.
“We put ourselves in a race against time and right now, it is obvious that we have fallen way behind when we look at what has happened in Dominica and Anguilla just around us in terms of where we need to go,” he added.
According to Dr Pickering, one of the fundamental aspects that emerged from studies conducted years ago was that the BVI needed access to the eastern seaboard of the United States, even if it were only to Miami, Florida.
“[Access to] anywhere in the United States puts you in the game, so to speak, because right now you can’t compete and everybody else is moving ahead of you. It’s like we are still wearing garments from the 70s and people are fashionable in the 2000s.
He added: “We want to be competing, we want to be in the game, but we’re not equipping ourselves to be in the game.”
Just this week, Premier Andrew Fahie announced that he has sent invitations to several major airlines such as jetBlue, American Airlines, and Delta Airlines to operate in the BVI. He said a new airline will begin operating in the territory in another six to seven months.
New airline to start operating in BVI in another 6 to 7 months — Premier
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After spending close to 10 million dollars on research and paying Wilson and others and not even a stone he throw in the sea. Then you wanted to bring in Chinese to do it over the locals who expressed a strong interest in building it. You have many more failures – brandy wine bay, no public rest rooms even on the same beach close to your district; agriculture was killed numerous times under you; nothing happened with fisheries and I could go on. Dr. Pickering it is time to give other people a chance. You had twenty years and you have nothing to show for that time.
Exactly. I don’t think he crazy enough to even try to come back on the scene.
Dear DR.PICKLES, Both you and DR.WHEAT BREAD have fail the East. We need new fighters for our people. You both sold out your country.
The man tried, you people didn’t want the Chinese Company. Why were the Bank of Asia and all these things put in place? Now BVI LANDERS can go Asia on a scholarship for studies. The govt tried, and it listened to the people trying to improve the airlift and airport but the people didn’t want Chinese or we spending $7.2 mil on an airline was too much money. If we spent that money on the local company, look what happened now, the bigger brother killed the family business.
Dr. Pickering failed on everything. Look at the mess at lavour department he left. He was the minister for labour and his district had the most unemployed people. No matter what time of day you drive through long look you see young, healthy people up there sitting down on the blocks smoking. Doing nothing. And you were the labour minister and deputy premier. Look at the road from the airport to the college? All this in the area of your district and as deputy premier you could even get that road pave. The sewage still running in Long Llok after you talk about it twenty years ago. Man I’m disgusted. Go take your rest from globe trotting.
I don’t agree with the labour part. He couldn’t pick up people and place them in jobs just so. There’s a process
Look at who his Permanent Secretary was and over in kye ministry causing a mess
There is no way we need to extend 2500 feet into the sea. When they originally started this foolishness planes needed longer runways – they don’t anymore.
All we need is the length a plane from east coast USA to here needs to land AND no airline is going to send a widebody plane here because we don’t have the rest of the infrastructure to deal with them. That was going to work with BVI airways without extending the runway – which goes to show that we don’t really need that much of an extension if at all.
Actually we should shorten the runway. Small planes and helicopters with big spenders is what we want.
THAT WAS WELL PUT ,THAT IS A MOUTH ?
The hon bjulian fraser brought in a special dredge that pumped sand to lengthen the airport a few years ago and we didn’t had all this hoopla back then
Can we not get away from this mess?
There has to be demand. American Airlines stopped the route because it was not profitable. You have to fix that issue first. Bigger airplanes that are running 1/2 full is not going to make anyone any money.
The government needs to go back to government stuff (schools, banks, hospitals, roads).
Leave the airport to airlines to figure out. The only people ask for this crap is Oil Nut Bay…
Was there any tendering for this 10 million dollars he spend on the preliminary works? How the COI didn’t ask this and no audit report on it either. How come?
Build the international airport on Anegada.
leave TB how it is
the ferry industry will expand at the same time that the airline industry will with more fleet to take persons between the islands.