Dear Sir,

You Need To Know, MBA, CA, criticised the Government in a letter on Monday for offering, as a reason for building a new airport, the danger of hurricane flood damage to the present terminal buildings. He seemed to feel we had somehow abandoned the other reasons for wanting a new facility in favour of this new one.

It wasn’t clear how he arrived at the conclusion that the whole exercise has been about flood control.

The finance minister did talk about flood damage and hurricanes at his presentation at the City Hall the other day, but that doesn’t mean that the other reasons for the new airport are no longer valid.

If the writer had watched the City Hall presentation video, which is still available online, he would have heard that the present terminal is a long way past its sell-by date. It is in a mess. Those who work there know that from bitter and painful experience.

Both political parties in Bermuda are agreed that a new facility is badly needed. The Bermuda Tourism Authority and the Government are clear that a new airport would be a big plus for Bermuda. And the figures demonstrate that a new airport is needed.

Maintenance on this ageing facility is high, at an average of $3 million a year for the past five years. Although the airport earns quite a lot for Bermuda, those maintenance costs mean, according to the finance minister, that it barely breaks even.

If we opted to repair the facility as it is, it would cost us $115 million. That still would not overcome the issue of how the terminal is sited, which makes it so prone to hurricane surge. As the finance minister said, that would surely come under the heading of throwing good money after bad.

If You Need To Know is as experienced with money as the letters after his name suggest, he would know that is not a wise way to spend money.

SENATOR LYNNE WOOLRIDGE, Chairwoman, One Bermuda Alliance