Public consultations for airport expansion one aspect of business case- Hon Rymer
Hon Rymer was speaking during a community meeting on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, on expansion and upgrades to the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport.
Premier Wheatley gave Hon Rymer the mandate in 2023
Hon Rymer said in August 2023, he and his team had a “visioning meeting” where a cross-section of the community was brought together to plot a way forward for the airport expansion.
He revealed that following American Airlines’ inaugural flight to the Virgin Islands (VI) in June 2023, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) said he wanted to see the runway extended.
“He gave me the mandate and from since then we have been moving forward. We even took a team to the United Kingdom to get their blessing on this project and they empathised that we needed to do a Greenbook Business Case...hence we are going through the process of the business case,” the Communications and Works Minister said.
Public consultation is one part of this business case, the Minister also stated.
Airport expansion talks “nothing new” to VI- Hon Rymer
He explained that a Greenbook Business Case consists of many stages inclusive of a strategic outline, the economic, management, financial and commercial aspects. The Cabinet has already approved the strategic outline.
Hon Rymer did reiterate that an option for expansion has not been selected and there is no cost associated to the project either. This is because the team is bringing the options to the public to get their feedback which will be used for selection of upgrades to the airport and runway.
“I know this is nothing new to the Territory,” he stated, “It was back in 2012, I think it goes back that far, where we started with this airport expansion and here we are twelve years later and we are still speaking about expanding our runway.”
Hon Rymer said what was not done was the Greenbook Business Case which is why they are now going through this process.
Commentator Claude O. Skelton-Cline has criticised the fact that the territory is still discussing whether to extend the airport or not. According to Mr Skelton-Cline, the need for the airport to be extended should not even be up for debate.
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10 Responses to “Public consultations for airport expansion one aspect of business case- Hon Rymer ”
On the agenda for discussion was airport expansion and provision of docking for cruise ships. Those attending included hoteliers, retailers and the public at large.
The consensus was, we're doing okay as we are.
Roger Burnett
Extend the %$£" airport and stop pandering to these know-nothing people. The same people who complained 20 years ago are the ones complaining now about the BVI not having infrastructure, hotels, jobs etc. How do you achieve those things without proper airlift in order to support developing your economy? The Government campaigned on this and should move forward and stop playing around. The talkers will talk no matter what, time for us to move this Territory forward and stop being distracted by useless hot air.
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. Mr Cline is 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 Mr Cline says again is incorrect and misleading.
3. Mr Cline says 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. Mr Cline is correct when he implies that 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 he is 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. Again misleading people.
6.Mr Cline is clear that he thinks we should not be spending no more than $100,000,000 dollars and that we need only to extend the runway. I guess that means extend the runway by as much as $100,000,000 will allow us to, 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.
We are currently being mislead by our Governments and people like Mr Cline.
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.
Hon Kye Rymer looks to be on a clearer path and says the Green Book Study will be used to inform us, but without a recognised plan such as a Tourism plan how does that work? And how does it work when Natalial already says the project is going ahead!!! Natalial of course continues not to lead but dictate and is not waiting for any blue book business case as he says “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."
We need to stop the secrecy that has surrounded these airport plans since the beginning. Something is always hidden except for the drive to spend a lot of money on something. Reading above that the strategic plan has already been approved without any of the public knowing what has been approved. The secrets go on.