Transport Minister Chandresh Sharma yesterday advised the new chairman and deputy chairman of the Airports Authority to ensure all that is done was above board and transparent. Sharma gave the advice after Trevor Benjamin and Carol Cuffie-Dowlat were appointed to the two positions, respectively.
In a short ceremony at the Airports Authority office at Piarco, Sharma told the new board members the jail was not far from Piarco but that they should never do anything to have to go there. He said the board must at all times be accountable. Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport Verna Johnson said some airport projects had been stalled because of the non-appointment of a chairman and deputy chairman of the AATT.
She said those projects related to general PSIP projects at the airports. She said there is need for upgrading at the ANR Robinson International Airport at Crown Point, Tobago. Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority Kimchand Rampaul, who also spoke at the ceremony, said the Transport Security Association of America (TSA) did an audit at both Piarco and ANR Robinson International Airports and “both airports passed with flying colours.” There was no chance of truth in claims that the airports would be downgraded, he said.
Rampaul said he intended to sit with the new directors and determine the way forward for the authority.