Airport expansion 'should not be up for debate'- Pastor Skelton-Cline
Pastor Skelton-Cline was speaking on his weekly show, Honestly Speaking on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, on ZBVI 780 AM, while the Ministry of Communications and Works together with the BVI Airports Authority (BVIAA) was holding a community meeting on expanding the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.
Why is the airport still a debate? - Pastor Skelton-Cline
“Here we are talking about an airport tonight...and people of the Virgin Islands we are still debating and discussing whether or not we should have an airport. Are you out of your cotton-picking mind?” Pastor Skelton-Cline asked.
He said this should have been a “foregone conclusion” on whether or not the Virgin Islands would extend, expand, and enhance the airport.
“We need better airlift that includes expansion of the airport in this country. That should not be up for debate,” Pastor Skelton-Cline continued.
He added that leadership includes listening to the people, letting them know they have been heard and their feedback appreciated.
This should be followed by the people of the Virgin Islands being told the direction that leadership has chosen to take, how much it will cost and how long the project will take. “That’s leadership,” he stated.
National security is a top reason for expansion expansion- Skelton-Cline
Pastor Skelton-Cline continued that following hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the need for better airlift was highlighted, as after the hurricanes the airport was not in operation for trave out of the country.
“They were landing supplies on St Croix for us in the Virgin Islands. We need better airlift in this country for number one, national security reasons.”
Pastor Skelton-Cline said governments after governments have been talking about this airport project and its direct effect on the tourism product.
“You still sitting up here as leaders after leaders, government after government, party change after party change talking about airport? It should have been built already...we don’t need a hundred-million-dollar airport, lengthen the landing strip,” he stated.
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17 Responses to “Airport expansion 'should not be up for debate'- Pastor Skelton-Cline”
Tourists nowadays want to minimize their carbon footprint, and this will only make it worse. We should improve the connection to other islands and let them be the hub, they already spent fortunes building (almost empty) airports. We need to focus in improving our infrastructure and services skills. Look at St. Barth, they are a prime destination and I am sure it is not because of their airport runaway!
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“I think we’re past the stage where we’re trying to decide whether we’re extending the runway or not. We are extending the runway.”
“That project will begin before this administration comes to an end in 2027. That’s something you can be sure about.”
1. We have an airport. It is wrong to say we are debating whether or not we should have one. That is incorrect and I think you know that. You are misleading people.
2. We need better airlift. Something which is not up for debate. But that does not mean a bigger, longer or better airport. It means better airlift. This can be done in many ways that does not need a change to the current airport. What you say again is incorrect and misleading.
3. You say that the expansion should have been done already but if a good case for it being done has not been presented then why would it have been done. It would be foolish to do something without good reason. So, no it should not have been done already. What you say is again misleading.
4. You are correct when you imply we have no leadership. We have not been told the direction that leadership has chosen to take, how much it will cost and how long the project will take. There is no leadership on this and the people have not been listened to. On this you are correct. It is the country that is being mislead
5. After the storms our airport was badly damaged and St Croix was not. Better airlift would not have changed this. A bigger, longer runway would not have changed this. You again are misleading people.
6.You are clear that we should not be spending more than $100,000,000 dollars and that we need only to extend the runway. I guess you mean extend the runway by as much as $100,000,000 will allow us to. You seem to be unconcerned whether what we end up with will benefit the VI. The only thing is to get something that should already have been done be done. Whether it helps the VI does not seem to matter. I think we may again be being mislead.
What we really need is to know what the VIs need from the airport to make plans for the nation succeed, know what options are available that we can afford, and to ask the people which one of those options they want. Currently without a Tourism plan this cannot be done. So it is hard to see how it should have been done already, and hard to see why any decisions can be made until we start to plan what we want.
You are misleading us and we are currently being mislead by our Governments.
Let's get a plan, find out what we want, find out what we can afford, find a way of going forward without corruption reducing what we get, and then deliver. It should definitely not have already have been done as who knows what we would or would not have now.
To say it should have already been done is not leading. It is the opposite of that.