Minister of Transport and Aviation Glenys Hanna-Martin admitted on Wednesday that complaints about deplorable conditions at Nassau International Airport are pouring in to her Ministry as travelers pass through during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year.
Many passengers concluded that the airport literally appears to be falling apart.
On Wednesday, passengers complained about filthy restrooms, insufficient and malfunctioning conveyor belts, an out of service air conditioning system, a leaking roof and other unacceptable conditions at the facility which is the main airport in the country.
Angelique Cancino, a Bahamian passenger traveling to Canada, described her experience at the International Departure Lounge as “the pits”.
She said the lounge was dirty and there was not enough seating for passengers.
Another passenger, Elizabeth Rodriguez of Mississippi, who said she frequently visits The Bahamas, said the airport is in need of a drastic overhaul.
She pointed specifically to the conveyor belts, saying they are in desperate need of an upgrade.
“They are pretty rundown,” Ms. Rodriguez said. She added that the restrooms were also an embarrassment and deserved a grade of “D” when compared to restrooms at many airports in the United States.
Workers at NIA were also complaining.
Ambrose Smith, assistant manager of Sedra Limited, which operates the Airport Business Centre, said many passengers sit outside his business on makeshift benches to smoke and are exposed to mounds of garbage piled into a room next to the sitting area.
“Passengers canﾴt smoke in the terminal so they go outside and sit around and smoke,” he explained. “Out there they have to contend with rodents running around and they have to put up with bad scents from a garbage holding room right next door.”
He said the airport parking lot is also deplorable and there is a need for better enforcement of parking rules.
“I have to pay for a parking space in the lot and most of the time when I get to work in the morning I canﾴt get in my space that is clearly marked,” Mr. Smith said. “Something has to be done to protect people like me. The tow trucks need to do their job and move people who park where they should not be parked.”
After months of work on the airport runways, Captain Valentino Collie, who flies with Southern Air, said that there remains significant hazards.
“Taxiing out from the ramp area, you still have a lot of bumps in the ramp creating large puddles because there is not proper drainage,” Mr. Collie said. “In certain areas where water [that] settles passengers have to ﾑdeboardﾴ aircraft and walk through water to get to the terminal building.”
Minister Hanna-Martin said that her Ministry is mindful of the many concerns expressed by people who make use of NIA. Itﾴs why she said there are plans to establish a special team to try to make immediate repairs.
“We have been challenged with maintenance issues in terms of the state of the cleanliness of the terminal and restrooms etc.,” Minister Hanna-Martin said.
” I have spoken with the management there and the chairman of the board [of the Airport Authority] and I have been advised that they will put in place a team of persons to ensure that at minimal we at least keep the area pleasantﾅin terms of cleanliness.”
In the interim, she said the government is in advanced negotiations with Vancouver Airport Services, the company it hopes will soon take over the management of the airport.
She said the management team is expected to be in place by the end of the year.
Prime Minister Perry Christie and his government have long been promising improvements at the airport and some passengers said those planned upgrades are simply taking too long.
“It is important that we elevate this airport to world-class condition to complement the world-class resorts that we now have on Paradise Island and expect to soon to have at Cable Beach,” the prime minister said during his partyﾴs most recent convention in November 2003.
“My government is therefore resolute in its commitment to bring about this upgrading in the shortest possible time frame.”
He has made the same pledge numerous times since then.
Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
