The Airports Authority of Jamaica, AAJ, is rejecting assertions that its runway extension project at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston is behind increased sea levels in Port Royal.
Member of Parliament for East Kingston and Port Royal, Phillip Paulwell, recently raised the concern about the rising water levels in the community.
But in a statement issued on Friday, the AAJ says the work has no bearing on water levels in the historic town.
Mahiri Stewart tells us more.
According to Phillip Paulwell, there’s been inadequate consultation on the NMIA runway expansion project.
He says the issue was especially concerning because Port Royal has recently seen flooding during high tides, with seawater now reaching sections of the roadway.
However, the AAJ is strongly refuting all assertions that the 300 metre westward extension of the runway is the cause of seawater ingress or rising water levels in the community.
The Authority rests its rebuttal on three arguments.
First, timing. The AAJ says seawater ingress into Port Royal is not new and has been happening well before work on the runway extension began.
On that basis, it argues that the flooding should not be linked to the current works.
Second, the authority says Kingston Harbour covers roughly 18 square miles, with the runway extension covering about zero-point-one square miles.
That’s less than one percent of the harbour’s surface area.
According to the AAJ, the structures do not obstruct or interfere with the movement of seawater between adjoining water bodies or with the open sea.
The NMIA similarly says the material being used to build the runway platform is dredged from the sea floor inside Kingston Harbour, near the extension site.
It says because that material is being taken from the harbour rather than brought in, the AAJ said the net effect is to reduce water levels in the harbour, not to raise them.
The Authority adds that the project was preceded by years of engineering, environmental and hydrodynamic studies and cleared regulatory review by Jamaican authorities, including the National Environment and Planning Agency.
