After working on the Argyle International Airport — from conception to completion — for 12 years, which included numerous missed completion deadlines, head of the International Airport Development Company, Rudy Matthias, must feel that he can now relax as the project is about it open.
And relax he did last Wednesday as he awaited the commencement of a ceremony in which Argyle International Airport, the company that will manage the airport, presented certificates of appreciation to former property owners at the site where the airport is built.
What was interesting, though, is where the perfectly able-bodied Matthias went to relax: in one of the wheelchairs inside the international departures area that the EC$700 million airport.
He sat there for some time on his cellphone as persons toured the terminal building and Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves interacted with visitors to the airport and journalists, giving this Facebook Like interview to iWitness News.
Matthias later addressed the former property owners, thanking them for giving way for the construction of the airport. (iWN photo)The airport will open on Tuesday, six years behind schedule, with two chartered international flights, in addition to regularly scheduled flights by LIAT and Grenadine Air Alliance.
The new airport has added EC$400 million to the national debt, a figure that assets owned by state companies can cover, Gonsalves said.
This guy deserves as much rest as Barack Obama and maybe even more. Tasked with producing a miracle, he delivered. He must sleep a lot better now.
This was no “miracle,” believe me, as I will soon show you.