BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (SKNIS August 3, 2006): Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas says the new Shell Antilles jet refueling facility at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport will help facilitate tourism expansion in the country.
Prime Minister Douglas toured the new jet fuel facility and commented that it would help ensure progress under his new socio-economic order. At the time he was being updated by top officials of the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority and officials of the RLB International Airport.
"The Government has taken the very strong position of moving the country forward with tourism. Without an improved modern facility " airport facility and services" you would scarcely be able to make a success of this. We believe very seriously that if we are to welcome the world, which is what we're now saying we're doing, we must have modern, efficient, and reliable services," said Prime Minister Douglas.
The Prime Minister conferred with Mr. Alexandre Divino, the Operations Manager for Shell Aviation in Latin America and the Caribbean, and with Mr. Samer Jumean, the General Manager and CEO of the St. Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA). Present also were SCASPA Chairman, Mr. Linkon Maynard, Airport Manager, Mr. Denzil Jones, and other officials
The Prime Minister commended SCASPA's leadership for its diligence in adhering to its timeline for the overall expansion works at the airport. "I think that here again is a clear example of the management" with very strong support at the Board level "taking very firm decisions and pursuing them in the interest of the company."
~~Adz:Right~~Following the August 2 tour, SCASPA CEO Mr. Samer Jumean spoke with SKNIS about the important mandate of the company. "Well, I think that the key to this facility is that we at the port authority, we want to make sure that we keep up with the pace of development in St.Kitts. This country is growing and the infrastructure in this country must support economic growth. We felt that the old facility, while it was at adequate capacity, we felt that we had to increase that capacity. As a result, today, we have a new state-of-the-art jet fuel farm facility at the airport that has almost double the capacity that we had in the past."
Mr. Jumean says the facility will fulfill the needs of the country, not just for today, but for the next 10 to 15 years.
Shell will operate the fuel facility for a 15-year period then it will revert back to the St. Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority after that time. It became fully operational on July 11, 2006.
