No room for error, Vaz tells aviation stakeholders

Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Daryl Vaz, today met with key stakeholders in the aviation and tourism industries, following the closure of the runway at Sangster International Airport in St James on August 10, which resulted in several cancelled and diverted flights.

“The aviation industry has absolutely no room for error and what transpired on Thursday is simply unacceptable,” the transport minister told the gathering.

Minister Vaz instructed that more stringent oversight be observed to ensure that there is never a recurrence of this nature.

"The situations at our two international airports, for different reasons, have the Jamaican people concerned and we have to work overtime to regain the confidence of our people and customers," he stated.

In attendance at the meeting were Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett; Senior Advisor and Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright; airports management team from Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP) led by CEO Raul Revuelta Musalem; Permanent Secretary, Carol Palmer; President and CEO of the Airports Authority Jamaica (AAJ), Audley Deidrick; Acting Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), Rohan Campbell; as well as other officials from the JCAA and the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport.

In their account of what transpired on Thursday, the AAJ, JCAA and MBJ explained that “the closure was a matter of extreme caution to ensure the runway was safe for aircrafts to operate, following scheduled upgrade works which were delayed due to poor weather conditions”, the transport ministry said in a press release today.

Vaz also instructed that a report be requested from the contractors, Lagan Aviation & Infrastructure Limited.

Directives were also given for the JCAA and AAJ to work with an independent team, led by the chairman of the JCAA, Colonel Oscar Darby, to undertake an Operation Safety Audit and Assessment of both airports by August 31.

Vaz indicated that the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport is prepared to sign off on support through expertise, post haste.

GAP, which manages the airport, signaled that it is prepared to address issues of compensation in relation to both airlines and passengers, and stand ready to cooperate with the government in its independent assessment. It intends to deploy its own team to conduct an independent assessment of the incident.

Minister Bartlett pointed to previous reports of Jamaica's recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic, particularly in relation the Sangster International Airport.

“Undoubtedly the occurrence of the 10th has created a setback and the Jamaican Government now has the responsibility of building back the confidence of our stakeholders and the public,” Bartlett told the meeting.

Vaz expressed confidence in the board of the JCAA, based on the aviation and other critical expertise that reside in the new board.

GAP will be sending a team to address the issues that have been identified at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.

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