Castries – Friday, November 22, 2013 – The Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA), has contracted a local consultancy firm to carry out an impact assessment study of the George F. L. Charles Airport. The study which is endorsed by the Government of Saint Lucia, will look at the current social, economic and political impact to inform on the future operations of the airport. The format of the study will include meetings with all airport stakeholders including employees, tenants, concessionaires and the surrounding business community, social media, passenger surveys and open forums where interested members of the community can share their views and ideas on the airport.

SLASPA has held a series of townhall and stakeholder meetings to ensure that the direct and immediate airport community is aware of the study being carried out. Mr. Ben Emmanuel, Senior Director Corporate Services and Administration indicated “SLASPA is a conscious corporate citizen and we wanted to ensure that we have all the facts and data necessary to make decisions. As a result, we thought is entirely necessary to carry out this study at this point.”

The impact assessment study which will commence on November 20, 2013 is expected to be conducted over a period of three months. It is vitally important that stakeholders participate in this study and SLASPA is encouraging all stakeholders to cooperate with the team.