November 9, 2024, will mark the official groundbreaking ceremony for the long-awaited international airport in Dominica. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced on Friday.
The airport project has been a central element of the nation’s development plans for many years and gained significant momentum following the signing of a one-billion-dollar contract between the Government of Dominica and Montreal Management Consultant Establishment (MMCE) on June 9, 2021.
Skerrit says the airport is long overdue after years of failed promises “Every government in the history of Dominica both pre and post-independence have made an international airport the center of their development plan. So, Dominicans were weary with politicians and governments and parties and rightly so, who said they would build an international airport.
Skerrit says he delayed the ground breaking ceremony to prove to Dominicans that the construction is really happening this time around“I delayed the groundbreaking, because as you know groundbreaking is supposed to be done before you start work. I felt that it’s a while we have talked about an international airport. I said people will have hesitation, so don’t go and break ground, let’s start. Let us bring it to a point where you can see the alignment of the runway.”
The Prime Minister encouraged the public to attend the ceremony, highlighting the airport’s importance as a national project. “Just imagine the possibilities of night landings and the extended runway at Douglas-Charles; consider what the international airport will bring to Dominica,” he remarked.
The Dominica International Airport Project is the biggest contracted project not only in the history of Dominica but also in the history of the Eastern Caribbean region, to date.
Set to be completed in 2025, the Dominica International Airport will be the game changer for the “nature island” – opening up a world of opportunities for socio-economic growth.
