Shamfa: Airport project will proceed

TOBAGO West MP Shamfa Cudjoe says the ANR Robinson airport expansion project will proceed as planned, despite objections from its detractors.

Addressing a PNM meeting Tuesday night at the Bethel Community Centre, Cudjoe declared: "We are going to proceed with this project. The naysayers would not stand in the way of this project."

Saying she understood the concerns of Crown Point/Bon Accord residents, Cudjoe added it was a sacrifice that must be made. Cudjoe, who is also Minister of Sport, said the project will generate increased economic activity.

"Yes, it is a sacrifice but it will open Tobago to the rest of the world because it is not just about Tobago as a tourism hub but business throughout the region," she said.

"It is not about building a nice airport but economic activity, giving Tobagonians opportunities and opening them up to the rest of the world." She said the world was moving ahead and "we must stay on course.

"So, with any development, there is a vision filled with opportunities for the people of Tobago." The project, scheduled to begin in November, has been criticised by residents and other stakeholders, including Tobago Forwards political leader Christlyn Moore.

At a recent public meeting in Bon Accord, she predicted there will be an increase in the mortality rate in the area when the Government begins to acquire lands to expand the airport. The project, which is being undertaken by the National Infrastructure Development Company, is expected to be completed by December 2020.

Despite the criticisms, Cudjoe claimed only 109 residents (representing 33 households), ten businessplaces and two farmers would be affected. She said the dream of having a new airport in Tobago was left unfulfilled for too long.

"Since the time of my mother, it was just promises, promises, promises." In her address, Cudjoe again lamented Sandals Resorts International's decision, in mid-January, to not construct a deluxe hotel in Tobago.

She said Tobagonians would have benefitted tremendously from the project. "We all know the story with Sandals because we allowed them (detractors) to speak louder that we did. But it would have meant thousands of jobs for the people of Tobago."

Cudjoe said the young men of Bethel, in particular, would have excelled at Sandals. "They are very skilled with their hands, not so many CXC subjects, not so many college degrees but they are very skilled with their hands and I know the Sandals project would have done them well," she said.