EXPANSION WORKS AT NORMAN MANLEY AIRPORT ON TRACK

Expansion works at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston are moving ahead and should be ready in time for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in 2007.

Speaking during a tour of the airport on Friday, August 27, 2004, Minister Robert Pickersgill said, ' This airport, come 2007 with the Cricket World Cup, will come under great scrutiny and use.' He noted that it was not a case that the country was not taking steps to improve the condition of the airport all along, but that the imminent Cricket World Cup has heightened the preparations …`because we will be on show and the world will be looking at us.'

Among the works done so far at the airport are the installation of new high-tech surveillance system and an improved baggage-screening system as efforts are stepped up to improve the facility's infrastructure. $50M has been spent on the surveillance system and the baggage-screening system.

Accompanying the Minister and speaking on the tour, Mr. Earl Richards, President of the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), noted that $50M was spent to install the new surveillance system as well as to acquire additional screening machines to boost the airports' ability to scan baggage and parcels coming through it. Another $5M is expected to be spent to further support the new security system to give full surveillance of the parameters of the airport with the installation of CCTV cameras.

Mr. Richards went on to explain that the present project is going to increase the capacity of the existing terminal to make the present passengers travelling through more comfortable and provide additional queuing space for the ticketing counters.

According to Richards, 'This will enable us to get the standards that we are aiming at and which will be provided under the major project that is to commence under the master plan development…so this is an increment before the major project that is to commence in 2005 and to be completed in early 2007 as phases 1 (a) and (b) of the overall master plan.

Minister Pickersgill while examining the improvement works under Phase 1 of US$127M capital development programme at the airport said the new $22M surveillance system, provided up to 95% coverage of the terminal buildings and 50% coverage of the runways and parameters of the facility.

Despite a one month delay, Minister Pickersgill said that project is on schedule for completion in May/June of 2005.

Designs for the $122M phase 2 of the expansion programme have been completed. Upon completion of this Phase of the project, the airport will be able to accommodate approximately 15,000 passengers daily. Currently, Norman Manley International accommodates 4,000 and 5,000 passengers daily.
And as if underscoring the importance of the works, Minister Pickersgill highlighted the fact that the security of the island's airports was of paramount importance just as much as the seaports which were now all certified by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).