Letter of the Day | Sorry state of affairs at Norman Manley International Airport

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I arrived on April 27 at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) and, after negotiating the crowded baggage area, I exited past the two parking ticket machines that were not working. I headed to retrieve my car from the parking area.

I spent over an hour in the line just to leave the car park because the one ticket machine has joined its brethren in merciful oblivion and only one human cashier was bearing the wrath of irate motorists.

Consequently, there was plenty of time to wonder if there is a conspiracy to frustrate the efforts of the minister of tourism and his ministry in attracting record numbers of visitors to Jamaica, or if it is merely that we are being short-changed by the airport operators, who, on the basis of an article in The Gleaner, earned $30 billion last year from the international airports in Jamaica.

It is difficult to accept that the parking machines have been out of service for a year and a half or more, because, in the words of an employee, “parts are being sourced”.

Compounding the problem is the fact that parking fees have been raised but the facility is in a bad shape and at a time when usage volumes are increasing.

Is there any minimum performance standards in the agreement with the operators of the NMIA? If so, these do not seem to be enforced. Inside the airport, the bathrooms are in poor condition and the air conditioning exists only in name.

Which government agency has oversight of the airports? If it’s still the Airports Authority of Jamaica, then they need to wake up and do something about it.

LINDA MITCHELL