If you are among the many STAR readers who’ve wondered why the opposition party did not put into effect its own plans for a much improved new Hewanorra International Airport when it was in a position to do so, and “at no cost to taxpayers”, Philip J. Pierre recently provided the answer. “It wasn’t completed because we were going through an international procurement process that necessitated we give bidders time to tender. Also we needed time to answer their questions.”
In a February 26 letter addressed to Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority general manager Daren Cenac, Pierre wrote that when in government between 2011 and 2016 his party had taken “positive verifiable steps” to complete the HIA project, by which the SLP leader referred to a 30-year PPP financing arrangement.
In his letter to SLASPA, Pierre wrote: “We note that based on the timetable at the time, the financial closing would have been May 2017 and construction would commence soon after.” Pierre told this reporter: “The international procurement process took a long time to be completed.” Meanwhile the electorate had replaced the SLP with a new government with its own development plans for HIA. Not so complicated after all!
