That is the cost to taxpayers for the capital projects and infrastructural work done at Piarco International Airport which took place "contemporaneously" with the recent Fifth Summit of the Americas.
This was revealed by Works Minister Colm Imbert in a written response to a question filed by St Augustine MP Vasant Bharath in Parliament yesterday.
Bharath had asked for a detailed list and costs of all the infrastructure and development projects associated with the Summit. Imbert gave a breakdown of work done at the airport, as well as for expenditure at the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT)-which amounted to some $51.5 million.
The Government has consistently maintained that not all the capital projects at the airport were motivated by the Summit. And therefore, in giving estimates of the cost of the Summit, the expenditure on the renovation at the airport has not been included. The last figure released by the Office of the Prime Minister for the costs of hosting the Summit was $508 million.
Imbert, in his written response, pointed out, however, that the hosting of Summit did provide "an opportunity for the Airports Authority to fast track some of its short and medium term goals".
Similarly, he stressed that the Summit also provided an opportunity for the PATT to fast track some of its short and medium term goals.
The breakdown of the cost of the airport upgrade, provided by Imbert:
- Ramp expansion - $167m
- Rehabilitation of the Alpha Taxiway system at Piarco - $130.6m
- Renovation to establish the Executive Jet Centre - $54m
- Security system maintenance project - $10.6m
- Temporary accreditation Centre - $1m
- Refurbishment of the carpark at the South Terminal - $5.4m
- Conversion of the customs baggage into a two-storey office building to accommodate the Airport Authority staff - $32.8m
- Demolition of the existing finger pier dock and the reconstruction of the ramp area - $15.4m
The breakdown of the refurbishment of the Port:
- Maintenance dredging - $12.3m
- Upgrade works to Sheds 3 & 4 - $6.1m
- Major improvements/addition to the fenders, hydrant and bollards "which were long overdue" - $1.1m
- Security infrastructure - $23.5m
- Repair works on the Port Authority Motor Launch - $.3m
- Improvement in aesthetics of the Port - $8.2m
