Lennox Honychurch looks into the proposals for "an international airport". He finds that we should cut our cloth to suit our jacket and suggests a more practical solution:

Twelve years ago, on 10th January, 1987, when the Dominica Freedom Party was embarking on its own jetport adventure with the consultants, Alexander Gibb, I published an article in this very newspaper outlining the pitfalls ahead. Alas, I lived to see all my prognostications raised in that article come true and the DFP disappear without so much as piece of sod turned over. I wrote then, and will repeat now:

"A jet airport is good political fuel especially when combating mid-term blues. But let us not raise expectations too fast, for the financial and physical obstacles are overwhelming. The higher the hopes of the supporters are raised, the more devastating the crash when the promises are not fulfilled fast enough or not at all." It must be said that the DFP was much more cautious about their project. What may happen this time around however, is that a lot of bulldozing will take place just before the general election to get everyone excited. Land will be destroyed, some earth will be removed and then many years of mess and inaction will follow under the UWP or whichever party may follow it.

It is almost a year since the mammoth meeting was held at Londonderry on 22nd June, 1998, to present the consultant's plan for the construction of an international airport for Dominica. It was quite a show. But to anyone with even a basic grasp of current global economics, it was pie-in-the-sky from the start. The airport would only cost US $80 million. Cruise ship arrival taxes to the tune of $10 million would be fed into the project. $40 million would come from "international funding". $30 million from "grant in aid". Are the consultants not aware of what has happened in the sphere of international funding and grant in aid in this region over the last few years?

There would also be "private investment". When in their lifetime would private investors ever hope to get their money from such a venture? We have only to study the expenditure versus the regularity of use by jets and related landing fees for the airports in St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Grenada to realise how heavily these airports have to be subsidised by the taxpayer. But then perhaps there would be certain sweeteners for our special brand of "private investors". What if they were given complete rights over certain cargo sheds on the side of the tarmac in return for their "investment". A place where no local customs officer could venture and no questions asked? It would be excellent for trans-shipments. That would be worth at least $5 million would it not? After all, the agreement with Don Pierson and Caribbean Southern Corp. in 1979 included similar benefits as part of "extraordinary and exclusive rights and powers" in return for his possible investment.

Airline Hubs
We were told last year that economic benefits to Dominica would be "over three billion dollars over twenty years". We had the potential to get "seven weekly flights from the US, two weekly flights from Canada and three from Europe." Certain Dominicans in North America and the UK somehow still believe that they will fly directly from JFK or Gatwick on scheduled flights and land in Dominica. Whoever wants to be taken in by these and other ridiculous figures are free to continue living in cloud coo-coo land.

A couple weeks ago Dr. Maria Bellot gave a far more realistic assessment of the global airline trends in an excellent article in this paper which showed the accurate state of things. Meanwhile, BWIA is buying a fleet of Dash 8 aircraft similar to LIAT so that it can run flights, in the same way as American Eagle, connecting the Eastern Caribbean islands (even those with jet airports) to the BWIA hubs in Barbados and Trinidad. Even Antigua is being side-lined in preference for major hubs which provide all services for long haul jets in one place. On either side of us in Martinique and Guadeloupe are two of the most technologically advanced airports in the region.

But globalisation, international economics and airline trends do not seem to concern us here in Dominica. As it was presented to us eleven months ago we were not even going to bother to cut out cloth to suit our jacket. We are going for the big time, one time: The runway will be 3200 metres long by 45 metres wide with space for a parallel taxi way in the future. We are planning for the arrival of B767 and B747 aircraft. There will be a 6000 square metre aeroplane parking zone and a 7000 square metre terminal. Barbados is now doing just an extension to its tarmac and terminal at Grantley Adams and this is costing them US $125 million. We however, can cut down hilltops, cross valleys, spread concrete and build a terminal, construct new roads, replace a school and redirect part of a water system for three-quarters of that amount!

Our Real Need
The resulting destruction of valuable agricultural land and the social and economic dislocation of large numbers of people in Wesley and Woodford Hill which will result from this scorched earth policy has been dealt with by other writers and speakers over the last few months. I do not intend to repeat these arguments here but I wish to offer a practical suggestion which will save us from this misguided project.

Our basic needs are for an airport capable of operating for night landing and at most, to accommodate short-haul jets from the US mainland and South America. Remember, we already accommodate jet landings directly from Miami with Amerijet. What would help improve efficiency is a better approach. This was what the attempt at the realignment of Melville Hall was all about. As Athie Martin has pointed out, that was what the EU had expected when they considered funding the project. But under present conditions night landing cannot be operated at Melville Hall because of the difficult approach down the valley. What we need therefore, is a new site which can serve those two needs: night landing and short-haul jets. Such a runway needs to be only marginally bigger than that of Melville Hall but with an unobstructed approach.

There is a suitable site for this at Woodford Hill on land which is already entirely controlled by government and Geest. There would be no disruption of landholding. The approach and take off is directly over the sea, totally free of hills or ridges. Geologically it runs entirely across a zone of hard compacted volcanic tuff, known locally as tarrish. Running parallel to the coast, earth moving will be the least of any other site on the island. Weather-wise, this part of Woodford Hill has the lowest annual rainfall of all points on the east coast. Such an airport could be achieved at a cost which should be economically feasible in the present circumstances. Because it is far more realistic than the current scheme and seeks to fulfil two clearly identified needs, funding agencies and loan sources would be far more willing to consider joint financing. It is a practical solution which will save Dominica from the long drawn out nightmare into which the current "international airport" scheme is going to drag us. UP

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