Manning: No corruption in Crown Point upgrade project

While not naming Piarco, Prime Minister Patrick Manning yesterday stressed that the $100 million upgrade of Crown Point airport in Tobago will not be likened to another well-known airport project. “It shall not be associated with any excursion into deliberate and unnecessary cost overruns; it shall not constitute a feeding frenzy, ‘shed of shame,’ or fraud on the population of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “We are simply not going there; we are not going there period!” Manning declared. The Prime Minister was speaking to a large gathering of Government and Tobago House of Assembly (THA) officials, and other specially invited dignitaries, during a symbolic sod-turning ceremony on location at Crown Point airport. This seemed to be the story line at the function as Manning was just one of several speakers who gave the assurance that the Crown Point project would not be a “hotbed” of corruption. Manning said the upgraded airport will have the capacity to handle the expected increase in passenger traffic at an acceptable level of service over the next 20 years.

“As a result, the design of short-term measures has been programmed into the long-term plans in order to reduce future disruption of the airport’s operations.” He noted that this reflected the long-term vision of the Government, THA and other stakeholders involved in the project. The upgrade works will include extension of the international section to accommodate three wide-bodied aircraft at any one time, with the capacity to load/offload passengers from its three loading bridges. There will be increased physical accommodation for airlines, administrative personnel, Customs and Immigration, as well as vastly improved accommodation for passenger arrivals/departures and the provision of a first-class lounge and VIP room and adequate security, according to Manning. The new facility will feature parking facilities for 500 cars. He said these developments would address the many problems currently being experienced and provide an airport facility capable of delivering a level of service expected of an international airport.