The Government of Dominica has placed the construction of the promised international airport as priority number one. So says Prime Minister of Dominica, Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit.
The Prime Minister says while the covid-19 pandemic has caused some delay, Government is looking towards beginning the next phase in August.
“We will continue to work feverishly on our international airport project. The next critical step is the geo-technical studies and we are hoping that we can commence this geo-technical studies in August and September of this year. We would have done it earlier had it not been for covid-19 because there was a delegation already scheduled to come into Dominica in March of this year from China but they were stopped. You’ve heard of the commitment of the Chinese Government through the ambassador here; of their commitment to assist us with the international airport, and we are also pursuing other means. So we have placed the international airport as priority number one for the Government,” Prime Minister Skerrit stated.
PM Skerrit also announced that more resources will be allocated, and in some cases redirected from other projects towards the construction of the international airport so that even more progress can be made.
“I am redirecting a lot of state resources in terms of human resources, engineers and surveyors, to the project. So we are suspending activities on other projects in terms of surveys and focus on finalizing all of the surveys required as well as all of the negotiations with land owners. I am hoping that we can pay the folks for their crops soon. We have done the crop assessments and we are hoping to pay them soon. Then we will start paying land owners for their properties. There are some people who will want swapping of the lands and we are hoping to discuss with them, and we have identified areas with the people of Woodford Hill and Wesley. And we will be going there soon to give them their lots and so forth,” the Prime Minister explained.
The Prime Minister says the Government will continue to work with the residents of the area, adding that the Government is grateful for the support of the people as they understand the importance of this major project.
“We are going to start the construction of several homes both in Wesley and Woodford Hill. In Wesley, we have already identified the site, and in Woodford Hill we are moving towards the water tank area where we have about 45 acres of land that we will be building homes for some of the people who will be affected by the airport. So the people are working with us and therefore we are working with them and they all recognize the importance of this project and we are forever grateful for the extraordinary support that they have been giving to us,” Prime Minister Skerrit added.