From Caribbean360

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Friday June 20, 2014, CMC -Leader of the Opposition, Arnhim Eustace, has questioned the government’s expectation of a large increase in tourist arrivals for the 2015 season.

Responding to recent comments by tourism minister Cecil ‘Ces’ McKie, Eustace said while the tourism minister is talking about a boom over the next two years, the Argyle International Airport is yet to be completed and the government knows that it cannot be done by the end of this year, as planned.

Last week McKie told CMC during Tourism Week in New York that the Unity Labour Party government expects a substantial increase in visitor arrivals to the country when the Argyle International Airport becomes operational.

“So where we welcomed just over (a few) visitors by air each year now, we expect that those numbers will triple in the next two years once the international airport is opened,” McKie told CMC. But Eustace, speaking on his New Democratic Party’s (NDP) daily radio programme on Wednesday said, “The airport is not going to finish in 2014 and the government knows that… They’ve admitted to that so how could he make this statement as Minister of Tourism?”

“Come on, we’re not fools. This is an insult to our intelligence as a people here. We’re not backward. For the minister of tourism to make such a statement something is wrong with him… He’s suddenly going to have [doubled figures], without any new construction and so on? We don’t know what airlines coming here up to now or how many will come.”

Eustace further said there is no evidence of training of additional persons for the hospitality service industry, and expansion of hotels and guesthouses to accommodate more tourists. “So, how is he going to double it next year in terms of the number of visitors coming in, and triple it in the next two years?” Eustace asked.

The NDP has consistently criticised the project, which the Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves government said cost EC$700 million (One EC dollar =US$0.37 cents).

Situated on the island’s east coast, when completed, the new airport will have a 9,000 feet long runway, and will be 150 feet wide. The new passenger terminal building, which has separate sections for domestic and international travelers, is designed to handle about 1.5 million passengers annually.

The government said the airport is being built to accommodate jets as large as Boeing 747-400s and will allow for direct flights to St. Vincent and the Grenadines from the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America.

IMAGE: LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION, ARNHIM EUSTACE (FILE PHOTO)

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