TRANSPORT AND Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill, last Friday signed two contracts valuing more than $96 million for the undertaking of improvement works at the Norman Manley International Airport as part of the Government's US$127 million capital development programme.
The contracts, which will be carried out in two phases, are being done in preparation for commencement of Phase 1A of the 20-year capital development programme.
Tankweld Special Projects, a division of Tankweld Metals, has been awarded the contract for the demolition of the existing building in the vicinity of the arrival and departure concourse and the erection of the steel structure in preparation for the construction of a new three-level departure concourse.
The contract, valued at over $60 million, also requires Tankweld to erect three temporary wooden-framed tunnels for use as public corridors into the airport's departure concourse.
The second contract has been awarded to Zimmcor Ltd. for the design, supply and installation of 408 square metres of glass curtain wall cladding to be used as façade in the departure concourse.
Zimmcor is also expected to supply and install 100 square metres of glass curtain wall, two sets of circleside tempered glass automatic curved sliding doors and four single swing doors at the western end of the waving gallery. This is to be done at a cost of over $35 million. These works are expected to be completed by mid-September.
IMPROVEMENT WORKS
Minister Pickersgill, in underscoring the importance of carrying out the improvement works at the airport, said the airports contribute some $15.2 billion to the economy of the country and provide some 13,000 direct and indirect jobs, about 5.6 per cent of the gross domestic product.
He said traffic through the island's two main airports remained vibrant, despite the fallout from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and Hurricane Ivan last year. According to the minister, a record 4,789,615 persons travelled through the airports last year. This trend is expected to continue with the increase in the number of airlines flying into the country, as well as the staging of The Cricket World Cup in 2007, he said.
