Technical officers told the Development Applications Board that work on the airport redevelopment project is still expected to begin this year.

According to the minutes of the board’s September 28 meeting, in which it discussed the planning application for the project, the board questioned the technical officer about the timeframe for construction.

The officer reportedly confirmed that works were due to commence in December.

While the board did approve the application, it first sought clarification on several elements, including the size of the immigration arrivals hall.

A section of the minutes states: “In respect of the size of the immigration arrivals hall, it was questioned how arriving passengers would be accommodated if several full flights arrived simultaneously and the IT processing system was not functioning to efficiently process the arrivals. The technical officer confirmed that airport officers had indicated that passengers would not be permitted to disembark the aircraft until capacity of the hall was reduced.”

The board also questioned the system for handling storm water run-off, asking if a proposed pond feature included in the plans was necessary to manage it.

The technical officer confirmed that one of its primary purposes was to assist other infrastructure in managing storm water.

He also explained that the pond would be aerated to avoid stagnation and killifish would be added to mitigate against mosquitoes.

The minutes stated that the board advised that the applicant would liaise with the Corporation of St George about the use of Penno’s Wharf to accommodate the delivery of construction materials to avoid scheduling conflicts, and that a bird monitoring programme shall be established for the collection of data after the start of operation of the passenger terminal building.

The airport redevelopment has been the subject of fierce criticism since its announcement, chiefly because of the Government’s handling of the project.

Opponents have accused the Government of a lack of transparency because of its refusal to publicly release schedules of the agreement with the developer, Aecon.

However, the Government has responded that negotiations were continuing and that the documents cannot be released until they are finalised.

Questions have also been raised about the long-term cost of the project. While David Burt, the deputy Leader of the Opposition, claimed the project would cost the public $33 million per year for 30 years, Bob Richards, the Minister of Finance, said Mr Burt’s estimations were inflated, calling the project a job-creating investment in the island’s future.