The government’s hopes of extending the Beef Island runway could hinge on London loosening the Virgin Islands’ debt rules, Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley has signalled.
Mr. Wheatley said he is engaged in dialogue with the United Kingdom government on the issue after UK Anti-Corruption Champion Baroness Margaret Hodge voiced support for the controversial airport-expansion plan during a three day visit to the VI last month.
In tender processes that launched and dead-ended in recent years, some estimates put the cost of the project as high as $400 million.
During a Friday press conference, Mr. Wheatley said the potential debt situation is a key focus of communications with London.
“I have written to the UK government,” he said. “One of the matters that I have raised with them initially, as it pertains to support for the airport expansion, has to do with [debt] ratios.”
Mr. Wheatley said he is looking for flexibility from Britain. “The expansion of the runway costs several hundreds of millions of dollars, and based on our ratios we would fall outside of our ratios as it pertains to debt,” he said.
“One thing that we are seeking from the UK is confirmation that those won’t be considered a breach of the ratios.”
The talks, he said, are necessary in part because the territory’s public borrowing generally is required to stay within the three ratios set by the Protocols for Effective Fiscal Management, a VI-UK agreement reached in 2012.
“We are engaging the UK as well as it pertains to the Protocols for Effective Financial Management and how they affect our ability to be able to engage in economic development as we seek to expand our economy,” he said.
Without a green light from the UK, a breach of the ratios could lead to increased fiscal oversight from London.
London trip
The comments came after Mr. Wheatley told the Beacon last week that he was hopeful about a runway-financing deal with Britain.
On Friday, however, the premier remained tight-lipped about a recent three-day visit to London to discuss “tourism partnerships” for the territory.
Asked about the trip, the premier said he did not meet any British government officials there. “Nothing was signed; we met with an investor in ports,” he said.
“I won’t reveal the name.” Mr. Wheatley — who did not immediately respond this week to follow-up questions about which ports were discussed — added that he is keen to build up the VI tourism industry.
“We discussed potential interest in investment in the territory,” he said. “Nobody invited us. We planned it in line with our strategic objectives as it pertains to tourism.”
Lady Hodge
The renewed activity over the long-delayed airport plans comes in the wake of Lady Hodge expressing support for the government’s plan to extend the airport’s runway from 4,646 feet to up to 7,000 feet.
During her three-day visit to the territory last month, Lady Hodge told the media on Sept. 24 that she and VI leaders were discussing how the UK could support the VI government in “trying to find funding for the runway.”
The anti-corruption czar, who was in the territory primarily to discuss financial-transparency issues, said she was dazzled by the beauty of the VI.
“I am stunned by the beauty of the islands, and I think it’s got massive potential in all sorts of ways,” she said after noting that it took 17 hours for her to fly from London to Tortola.
Questions remain
However, major question marks remain over the details of the proposed airport expansion, which has been the subject of heated debate since it was proposed nearly 15 years ago by then-premier Dr. Orlando Smith’s administration.
Since then, opponents of the move have questioned government claims about the volume of direct flights to the US mainland the expansion will bring.
However, due to the absence of a comprehensive business case in the public domain — and without a national plan to guide tourism decisions — both sides have relied largely on speculation to make their arguments.
A business case is now in the works, but leaders have refused to publish the completed parts of it even as they cite them as justification for moving ahead with the project.
They say the document will be released only when all parts of it have been completed.
