Gov’t signs contract for control tower repairs

Work is expected to begin shortly on temporary accommodation for air traffic controllers now that the government has signed a US $2.2 million contract for major “upgrades” to their home at the V C Bird International Airport.
This has been confirmed by the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Edson Joseph and the PRO of the Guild of Antigua & Barbuda Air Traffic Controllers (GABATCO), Wesley Joseph who met earlier this week.
The initialing of the agreement by the Civil Aviation Minister, Sir Robin Yearwood and an official from the Canadian company Aeronav is the closest the workers have come to having their grievances addressed.
These include outdated and malfunctioning equipment as well as a structurally compromised building.
GABATCO’s Joseph told OBSERVER media that Aeronav is providing new navigation radios which the company has promised will be installed in the temporary tower either by mid-June or the end of that same month.
The Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority will carry out the technical work on that short-term accommodation.
“It will be just above where the Met Office is in the old terminal,” Wesley Joseph said.
Meantime, the PS in the Civil Aviation Ministry said repairs to the control tower would begin once the staff are in their temporary home.
According to Edson Joseph, Aeronav has committed to changing the cab of the tower, which is the nucleus of the department, in six months or less.
The cab forms the Visual Control Room that sits high on top of concrete slabs.