The debate over the Bermuda Government’s airport development plan continued in the Senate yesterday, with the One Bermuda Alliance members challenging the suggestion that a new terminal was not needed.

However, Opposition senate leader Marc Daniels reiterated that the Government must ensure the public are getting value for money. Opening the debate on the motion to adjourn, OBA senator Vic Ball noted that when the Progressive Labour Party was in power, an airport master plan was commissioned which found it was more cost-effective to build a new airport terminal rather than renovate the existing airport.

“I’m trying to understand why they have said that it’s better to renovate the airport when their own plan says it’s better to build an new one,” Senator Ball said.

Responding, Senator Daniels said that he did not know the details of the plan created by the PLP government or who prepared the report, saying that the question remained if the Government was truly getting the best possible deal.

“There are a lot of concern from members of the community about how the OBA is pursuing its plan,” he said.

Fellow PLP senator Renee Ming, meanwhile, mentioned the issue in her own closing speech, noting that the Government seems to be pushing ahead with the redevelopment project despite 75 per cent of the public being against the plan.

The OBA’s Georgia Marshall returned the conversation to the PLP master plan, which she claimed had estimated the cost of a new terminal building to be $424 million, compared to $476 million for refurbishments to the existing terminal.

While she had previously given a figure of $115 million for refurbishment costs, she clarified that the figure would only include roof and mechanical repair work.

“This Government is doing all it can to ensure the project we undertake will be on time, on budget and on spec,” Senator Marshall said.