By Robert A Emmanuel
The Cabinet has announced that an EC$100 million loan is expected to be finalised with the intention of distribution between the government and the Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority (ABAA) before the end of November.
Resurfacing the runway at the VC Bird International Airport is “priority number one”, Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s Office Lionel Hurst told media yesterday.
Cabinet members met with three executives of an unnamed banking group on Wednesday. Cabinet notes stated that the government will receive “ten million dollars upon signature of the loan document and the remaining portion would be distributed in phases to the ABAA”.
Hurst gave further details of the planned operations to be undertaken by the Airport Authority upon receipt of the loan.
“There will be some resurfacing of the airport runway—maybe not all of it—and that requires significant outlay… there are also areas in the terminal that require some uplift, and it is the intention of the Airport Authority to bring it back up to scratch,” Hurst explained.
Details on the repayment schedule and interest rate were not revealed in the Cabinet notes, but it is anticipated that the first distribution of the funds will take place this month.
Negotiations on the loan agreement were said to have been “ongoing for some weeks”.