Imbert: Tobago airport project ‘well under way’

Finance Minister Colm Imbert in the House. FILE PHOTO
Finance Minister Colm Imbert in the House. FILE PHOTO

FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert says the ANR Robinson International Airport terminal project is "well under way."

He was responding to a question in the House on Friday on whether the proposed construction of a new terminal building at the airport will progress in light of the collapse of the Sandals Resort project in Tobago.

Imbert said the construction of a new terminal and associated works at the airport in Tobago was never contingent on the Sandals project.

"This PNM Government clearly stated in its 2015 manifesto that the construction of a new world-class international airport in Tobago would be one of its priority projects. This has also been presented in our 2030 vision for the national development strategy for TT and was approved in this honourable House and in the other place since 2017."

He said with the increase in the number of international flights and passengers it became evident the existing terminal, constructed in 1953 which was last upgraded in the 1980s and then modified in 2016, had been outgrown by the international traffic and did not meet all necessary international aviation standards.

"As a responsible and futuristic government we are going to build the new modern state-of-the-art terminal with a capacity of three million passengers in its first phase of development."

He said the current terminal will be upgraded to existing service level and expand cargo operations. Imbert reported the request for proposals for the building contractor, the main contractor, will close in the first week of March. He also reported the land acquisition consultants and cadastral surveyors were already hard at work and financing was being sourced from the Andean Development Bank CAF as an optional source of funding.

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