By RACHNA LAL and MARAIA VULA
The Attorney-General and acting Prime Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, has stressed that building a new airport would not be cheap.
He made these comments following a suggestion on Saturday during the 2013 Fiji Business Forum open discussion session whether it would be worth considering building an international airport in Pacific Habour.
This would be instead of working on making Nausori an international airport.
“Reality is, we are strangled by the inefficiencies of the past three or four decades, mismanagement and corruption,” he said.
“There has been enormous strain on Government resources.”
This third business forum held at the Holiday Inn Suva was organised by the Suva Chamber of Commerce and Industry and exclusively sponsored by ANZ.
Airport operator selection
Meanwhile, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum, confirmed they have shortlisted four well-known airport operators for the Nadi and Nausori International airports.
He said they are assessing their application and hope to finalise something by the end of this month.
“When we called for the expressions of interest for Nadi and Nausori airports, we were surprised with all the interest by well-known airport operators,” he said.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum therefore reassured delegates that major renovation to the Nadi International Airport can be expected.
Nausori airport and roads
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum further indicated that refurbishment plans for the Nausori Airport are still very much on the cards.
“We have been talking to Fiji Roads Authority and there are discussions with TLTB which we need to expedite and we need to have movement on that,” he said.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said as part of these plans is also having a four lane road connecting Nausori Airport to Suva.
He confirmed the project would start “very soon”.
“Nausori Airport already provides a good infrastructure but we would have to extend the runway,” he said.
“We also have to ensure we have better road system from the airport to the main central business district.
“The route from Nausori will be much shorter if you have four lane roads.”
The arrival foyer of the Nadi International Airport.