Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer 
HURRICANE IVAN may have gone, but it has reportedly left the Government, potentially, with a hard choice to make: whether to continue developing the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, or move to a new location and build another airport.
The alternative being looked at is said to be Vernamfield, the former air base in southern Clarendon, which had previously been targeted for development as an air cargo hub.
The reconsideration of the matter, to the extent that this is taking place, has been influenced in part by the damage done to the Palisadoes road, the only route to the airport, during the passage of Hurricane Ivan, raising concern about the airport's long-term viability as the main gateway into the capital city.
Transport and Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill, announced earlier this month that he had commissioned a study of the hazards to which the roadway was vulnerable, in light of the damage done by the hurricane, with the storm surges washing mounds of debris across the peninsular and blocking the road to vehicular traffic for two days.
When contacted by The Sunday Gleaner the minister was careful to say that no decision had been made about moving to a new location. He reluctantly admitted, however, that the option could not be ruled out and would probably be submitted to the Government's Development Council for consideration.
"The backers of a Vernamfield airport are certainly back on the screen and certainly we have a responsibility to look at those possibilities, but any such proposal would have to go to the Development Council, chaired by the prime minister," Mr. Pickersgill said.
Nevertheless, he emphasised that "as of now, the policy of the Government is to proceed with the Norman Manley airport."
It was in 1999 that Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced several 'Millennium Projects', a series of development proposals, including a Vernamfield cargo airport, along with Highway 2000 and the Milk River hotel, and spa. There are also plans for a major housing, commercial and light industrial park development at Inverness, also in Southern Clarendon.
With the first leg of Highway 2000 well under way, and slated to be routed to within a few miles of Vernamfield, the backers of that project are scenting a new opportunity to press their case, with doubts having been raised about the advisability of continuing to develop Norman Manley International Airport.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the Government is reportedly at the point of decision about moving ahead with the next phase of its 20-year development plan for the Norman Manley airport, with approximately US$127 million slated to be spent.
One critical point on that development timetable, Mr. Pickersgill noted, was World Cup Cricket, 2007, when thousands of visitors are expected to descend on the capital city for the month-long tournament. It was critical, he said, that the airport be "put in a position to be appropriate to welcome the thousands of visitors that we expect."
For the Kingston airport to be further developed to the standards specified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), however, the runway would have to be lengthened moving from its current 8700 ft to 10,000 ft, with additional space at each end of the runway. That, Mr. Pickersgill confirmed, would require more reclamation of land from the sea.
Already, environmentalists who opposed the recent dumping that was carried out to expand the Port of Kingston are gearing up to do battle again over a possible runway expansion. One more reason to support the Vernamfield option, one backer of that project told The Sunday Gleaner.
The two existing international airports Norman Manley, and Sangster International in Montego Bay were, a decade ago, set on timetables for redevelopment and privatisation. Sangster has already been privatised and is farther ahead in its redevelopment than Norman Manley.
The transport minister noted that more than $250 million had already been spent at Norman Manley International as well repaving the existing runway, realigning the roadway into the airport, improving the ticketing counters, adding vending kiosks etc.
With millions more scheduled to be spent on the airport, and, possibly, to make the access road secure against hazards of nature, Mr. Pickersgill concedes that such expenditure "should be after you have looked at all the possibilities and come to a conclusion in that regard."
"The backers of a Vernamfield airport are certainly back on the screen and certainly we have a responsibility to look at those possibilities, but any such proposal would have to go to the Development Council, chaired by the prime minister," Mr. Pickersgill said.
Nevertheless, he emphasised that "as of now, the policy of the Government is to proceed with the Norman Manley airport."
It was in 1999 that Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced several 'Millennium Projects', a series of development proposals, including a Vernamfield cargo airport, along with Highway 2000 and the Milk River hotel, and spa. There are also plans for a major housing, commercial and light industrial park development at Inverness, also in southern Clarendon.
NEW OPPORTUNITY
With the first leg of Highway 2000 well under way, and slated to be routed to within a few miles of Vernamfield, the backers of that project are scenting a new opportunity to press their case, with doubts having been raised about the advisability of continuing to develop Norman Manley International Airport.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the Government is reportedly at the point of decision about moving ahead with the next phase of its 20-year development plan for the Norman Manley airport, with approximately US$127 million slated to be spent.
One critical point on that development timetable, Mr. Pickersgill noted, was World Cup Cricket 2007, when thousands of visitors are expected to descend on the capital city for the month-long tournament. It was critical, he said, that the airport be "put in a position to be appropriate to welcome the thousands of visitors that we expect."
For the Kingston airport to be further developed to the standards specified by the Inter-national Civil Aviation Organ-isation (ICAO), however, the runway would have to be lengthened moving from its current 8,700 ft to 10,000 ft, with additional space at each end of the runway. That, Mr. Pickersgill confirmed, would require more reclamation of land from the sea.
Already, environmentalists who opposed the recent dumping that was carried out to expand the Port of Kingston are gearing up to do battle again over a possible runway expansion. One more reason to support the Vernamfield option, one backer of that project told The Sunday Gleaner.
The two existing international airports Norman Manley, and Sangster International in Montego Bay were, a decade ago, set on timetables for redevelopment and privatisation. Sangster has already been privatised and is farther ahead in its redevelopment than Norman Manley.
