Politics
St Vincent prepares to open new international airport in 2014
The airport will be built to accommodate jets as large as Boeing 747-400s and allow for direct flights to St. Vincent and the Grenadines from the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America, Gonsalves said.
But notwithstanding its potential to transform the local economy, the international airport, has been a divisive project since Gonsalves proposed it in 2005, as most positions on the project are being formed by their politics.
The airport was a central campaign issue of the general elections campaigns of 2005 and 2010 and will no doubt be again in the next poll, constitutionally due in 2015.
Political observers suggest that if the airport is completed by the time of the next general elections and the country starts reaping the benefits from the years of sacrifice, the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP), which is vying for a fourth consecutive term in office, will understandably claim credit.
But if the project fails to be completed on time, the political observers say the government will, as it has done in the past, point to the tough economic times or other challenges and urge voters to stick with it.
Eustace and other opposition politicians are expected to give counter arguments, insisting that the project is too much of an expensive venture for the island which has a population of less than 100,000 people.
In 2005, the estimated cost of the airport was EC$480.6 million. But after the final designs for the airfield in December 2007, the cost was revised to EC$589 million. In late 2008, that skyrocketed to EC$700 million due mainly to the higher cost of construction, increased earth and site works, and purchase of acquired lands.
