Sangster Int'l Airport concession agreement nears closing

KINGSTON:

MINISTER OF Transport and Works, Dr. Peter Phillips, has said negotiations were in the final stages for the awarding of a concession agreement for the development of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

"We will be completing in a matter of months," he said in his contribution on Tuesday to the 2001/02 Sectoral Debate.

The concessional arrangement for the Sangster International Airport is aimed at securing greater investment in the expansion of the airport facilities and utilising internationally reputable mangers.

Dr. Phillips said applicants for the concession had been invited to participate in a preliminary bidding round and based on this bidding round, proposals were submitted in January 2000. The groups involved in the bidding included Airport Development Corporation, Consortium for the 21st Century, HP Development and Vancouver Airport.

Following the establishment of an agreed economic regulatory framework, the second round was launched in November 2000 and the bidders submitted their offers in April 2001. The final evaluations are being undertaken and negotiations will be entered into by September 2001.

He told the House that major infrastructural work was being undertaken at the airport's terminal, to ensure that the facility would be able to accommodate increased traffic.

The work includes the extension and improvement of the terminal building and apron and the installation of a new fuel hydrant system to be finished by 2002/03 at a cost of US$31 million.

Dr. Phillips said approximately $824 million would be spent during the year to complete work on the aircraft parking apron and hydrant fuelling system and to improve the drainage of the airfields.

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