GOVERNMENT yesterday signed a contract valued at Can$19.9 million with Canadian company Intelcan Technosystems for the construction of air traffic control towers at the Norman Manley and Sangster international airports.

At the signing, which was held at the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority's (JCAA's) conference room in St Andrew, Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry said the new towers would support the increased traffic expected in Kingston and Montego Bay. 

Chairman of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) YP Seaton (seated, left) and Zvi Glanz (seated, right), executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Intelcan Technosystems, sign the Can$19.9-million contract for the construction of two air traffic control towers at the Norman Manley and Sangster international airports. Looking on (from left) are Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry, Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica Stephen Hallihan, and Patrick Stern, deputy director general of JCAA. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

"The construction of the two control towers at the Norman Manley and Sangster International airports is in keeping with Government's plan to further expand the aviation industry," Minister Henry said.

Intelcan Technosystems is a global leader in the provision of air traffic management systems for civilian and military applications.

The contract was approved by Cabinet earlier this month and the work is to be carried out in two phases over the next 24 months. The construction of the tower at Sangster is to be completed in the first phase, which is projected to end in the third quarter of 2011 and the one at Norman Manley will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2012, in the second phase.

The project will be financed by the JCAA -- 65 per cent of internal funds and 35 per cent loan financing.

According to the JCAA, the modernisation of the two airports has "rendered the present towers inadequate for visual and effective control of the manoeuvering areas."

"The project also provides an opportunity for modernising the present amenities for staff and equipment, including redundancy for equipment at every level which is a critical safety/security feature for modern Air Traffic Control," the JCAA said.

The aviation authority also emphasised that the advantage of having the same entity construct both towers' the efficiency gains and cost savings from having a single entity conduct design, construction equipage using the same team and construction equipment operating in parallel mode".

Minister Henry, in the meantime, reiterated that the plan for the air transport sector -- as set out in Vision 2030 -- was to have a thriving industry with Jamaica as an alternative to Miami.

At the third International Conference for Air Services Negotiations (ICAN) held in Montego Bay earlier this year, Henry had said that Jamaica, with its "very favourable" geographical location, was well-positioned to capitalise on the air traffic flows from across the globe.

He also said that with the container port in Kingston being one of three on the Eastern seaboard of the Americas that can handle mega container ships, Jamaica is ideally suited to become a "multi-modal" passenger hub.