ET Joshua airport should stay

Tue Mar 17, 2015

Editor: The conclusion of an article taken from the IADC website reads: “Finally, the construction and operation of the Argyle International Airport means that the land at the E.T. Joshua Airport would now be converted into a new commercial centre: New Kingstown?”{{more}}

Editor, with the coming of the international airport at Argyle, is there room for the ET Joshua Airport at Arnos Vale? I believe there is. Here are my reasons for saying so.

It is very hard to envision taking a taxi or driving from Kingstown or even from Central Leeward all the way to Argyle to take a flight just to go to Bequia, or the other Grenadine islands.

Like the container ports, we do not have just one container port in St Vincent. And there is reason for that. A lesson could be learned from that.

ET Joshua Airport has been with us for many years as our very own cultural heritage and patrimony. Furthermore, if that should go, on what or where would our local hero Joshua be immortalized?

It would be cheaper to keep ET Joshua Airport than to build and maintain this “new commercial centre.”

A “new city” in Arnos Vale is very redundant. How far is Arnos Vale from Kingstown?

No one knows the adverse implications of an airport at Argyle. These would not be known for several years, even after the airport is declared officially open and starts operation.

What would happen to all the businesses in Arnos Vale and the environs that depend on the ET Joshua Airport for daily business? Should they close down and relocate to Argyle? Is that even feasible?

In times of adverse conditions, whether that be from the weather, such as in hurricanes and strong unfavourable winds for flights, or torrential floods, or even a possible eruption from the volcano, there should be an emergency airport.

Editor, I’m sure that there are other sound reasons for keeping ET Joshua Airport. Or at least, there are those of the intelligentsia who could expound on these reasons of mine in a more convincing argumentative style than me myself.

Duncy Head