Aviation Business Complex for Piarco

Government will be building a new facility at the airport — an Aviation Business Complex — to house many of the institutions currently accommodated at the Piarco Terminal Building. In response to a question in the Senate yesterday, Works Minister Franklyn Khan revealed that on October 4, 2003, Airport put out an advertisement for pre-qualification for companies who meet the technical and financial criteria required for financing, designing and constructing an Aviation Business Complex. The closing date for submissions was on October 31. Khan said this Aviation Business Complex will provide for the following: office accomodation for the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority; office for 24-hour presence of Customs and Immigration as well as national security personnel and the Bureau of Standards; comprehensive cargo handling and warehousing facilities; transhipment facilities; lease office space for aviation and other private enterprise and passenger handling facilities for helicopter services.

In response to another question Khan also disclosed that lighting for the Solomon Hochoy Highway from St Joseph to Golconda will be completed by mid-December. He said a contract was awarded on November 1 for the lighting to be done, but the poles had to come from overseas. He said in the meantime, the Ministry had installed “cat eyes,” so that the highway was not unsafe. In another question, Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley  refused to “dignify with a reply” a supplemental question from UNC MP Wade Mark on whether he was part of the government’s policy to “house-pad.” What Rowley did do was to give a breakdown of the housing at Farm Road, St Joseph. He said it would consist of 368 housing units, comprising 16 single family units at a cost of $145,000 each, 50 duplexes at a cost of $166,000; 48 townhouses at a cost of $228,000 each and 258 apartments at a cost of $197,000 each. He said the construction was not part of the IDB Settlement Loan Agreement. Rowley said prospective home-owners would be chosen on the basis of random selection coupled with urgent need. In response to another question, Rowley said that the IDB Loan Contract Agreement with respect to the National Settlements Programme which was signed in 2002 between the Government and the Bank was US $40 million, of which the IDB gave $32 million and the Government $8 million.