The firm tasked with building the new airport under the Bermuda Government’s redevelopment plans has pledged to retain all staff from the Department of Airport Operations.

Steve Nackan, president of Aecon Concessions, said his firm had been extremely impressed by the airport’s workforce and insisted the $250 million project would provide hundreds of jobs.

However Mr Nackan, together with those behind the public private partnership (PPP) that will be guaranteed by the Canadian Commercial Corporation, came under fire from opponents of the project during a public information session at Penno’s Wharf last night.

Lawrence Scott, the shadow minister for transport, questioned why the proposed new airport was smaller and maintained that all revenue from the airport should go back into the facility rather than end up as profits for Aecon.

Mr Nackan responded that the new terminal would be bigger with more gates — although a final design was yet to be finalised — and there was provision under international regulations whereby Aecon could make a reasonable return on investment in the project. Jason Hayward, president of the Bermuda Public Services Union, said the union was fundamentally opposed to PPPs and asked about Aecon’s investment return.

Mr Nackan replied: “Unions around the world express the same concerns, but there is a tremendous body of evidence to support the fact that PPPs work.

“We are in the early stages of design, but the notion that money is leaving the country is not true, all of the money generated by the airport will be ring fenced in this project.”

During an increasingly heated question and answer session at the end of the presentation Bob Richards, the Minister of Finance, confirmed that the Government had passed the point where they could pull out of the deal without incurring penalties. He said that Aecon had initially spent $2.5 million on the project and had incurred more expenses that the Government would be liable for it was to withdraw from the arrangement.

“The idea that we can just cut and run is no longer on the table. When we are doing a project like this we have to make a commitment if there is to be progress.”

Last night’s Government information session attracted more than 200 people including politicians from both sides of the divide as well as leaders of the People’s Campaign including Chris Furbert, the Bermuda Industrial Union president, and Reverend Nicholas Tweed, who asked what percentage on top of the $2.5 million Bermuda would have to pay Aecon.

Reverend Tweed claimed the whole process behind the redevelopment plans undermined freedom of speech and dialogue.

Earlier in the night Shawn Crockwell, the Minister of Tourism Development and Transport, and Mr Richards outlined the benefits of the PPP agreement for Bermuda.

Mr Richards said the project was the best deal for the country insisting it would be paid for by the users of the airport and not the Government and would not add to Bermuda’s debt.

While Mr Crockwell maintained a new airport would be a “game changer” for the Island that would have an economic impact everyone would benefit from. Grant Gibbons, the Minister for Economic Development, revealed that Government would be issuing a Request for Proposals for a solar farm on The Finger peninsula in the near future “to compliment the airport project”.

“We are hopeful that this solar voltaic farm will be of use in terms of providing the peak energy needs of the airport during the day, at a good cost and supply some of Bermuda’s electricity as well.”

Meanwhile Jacques Greffe, vice-president of contract management at CCC, said it was CCC’s job to guarantee the performance of the contract as well as ensure it was done on time and on budget.

He said CCC was fully behind the project and also confirmed Aecon had initially brought the project to CCC’s attention “to see if we were interested”.

Mr Richards later suggested that opponents of the project had drawn “incorrect inferences” from this fact, and maintained that Government had not approached and did not even know who Aecon were when the construction firm approached CCC about the potential of the project.

He said: “Aecon brought the idea to CCC but it was not done with the knowledge of the Bermuda Government.”

Mr Nackan told the meeting that extremely stringent procedures were in place to ensure Bermuda would receive value for money and maintained the deal was not privatisation.

He added: “We have met with over 200 organisations, agencies and people so far. We believe a new airport will serve as a beacon to other investors and boost their confidence to bring investment into the country.”