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| A view of Vance W Amory International Airport runway |
Charlestown Nevis (September 2, 2004) Premier of Nevis, the Hon Vance Amory said on Monday that he was relatively pleased with the decision taken by the board of the Nevis Air and Sea Ports Authority, following the recent industrial action at the Vance W Amory International Airport.
“The whole thing stems back to the decision which we made to increase the salaries of the civil service,” said Premier Amory during an exclusive interview with the Government Press. “The Air and Sea Ports Authority was not originally considered top be part of that as it is a statutory corporation which does not function according to the rules of the civil service.”
The Premier, who is also responsible for ports sought to clear the air where he noted that the board along with himself was advised that the Federal Government had given the St. Kitts Port Authority employees similar treatment to that of the public servants. He also noted that a decision was taken to provide a 10% increase to the employees at ports.
According to the Premier, the port authority is a statutory corporation, which had to be dealt with according to the policies of the board. He also said that some members did not fully understand the whole implication and decided that they were not satisfied, and they took a decision not to show up to work.
Even as the operations at the airport are back to normal and the board of directors is dealing with other issues, the position of general manager has become vacant.
In response to the question of the vacant position, Premier Amory said, “In respect of the change at the port, I think it is a matter of public report that the last general manger, Mr. Howard Taylor was on contract, and had his contract extended for an additional period.”
The Premier observed that Mr. Taylor took a decision not to have his contract renewed and that the board and himself agreed. He also observed that for the interim, Mr. Oral Brandy would act as general manager of the Air and Sea Ports Authority.
“The full extent of his term of acting has not yet been determined but I have been in discussion with the chairman of the board, who has advised me that Mr. Brandy should be evaluated as he performed his duties to determine his fitness or otherwise or do we look for somebody else. I am saying that quite frankly because we will need someone to assume the full responsibility as general manager of the Air and Sea Ports Authority.”
