Acting on the purported advice of a partial business case that hasn’t been released to the public, the Cabinet has approved a dramatic expansion of the Virgin Islands’ main runway with plans to launch a procurement process in the coming weeks.
Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer told the House of Assembly last Thursday that the extension of the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport runway from 4,648 feet to 7,000 feet was cleared for take-off on Oct. 1.
“A 7,000-foot runway will significantly enhance the territory’s ability to accommodate larger and longer-range aircraft, allowing for direct international flights from key global hubs in North America, Latin America and Europe,” he said.
The next steps, he added, include launching the procurement process with a request for expressions interest to “identify and shortlist qualified partners” for Cabinet’s consideration.
“This transparent and structured process will ensure that only reputable, experienced firms with the proven capacity to deliver a project of this scale will move forward,” Mr. Rymer said. “The feedback from potential investors will also help refine the request for proposals, which is expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2026.”
Previous iterations of the proposed expansion, which would be the largest capital project in VI history, have drawn bids ranging from $150 million to $400 million in tender processes that have launched and dead-ended over the past 15 years.
Business case
In making the decision to proceed last month, Mr. Rymer said, Cabinet followed the advice of consultants currently working with a government-appointed steering committee to create a comprehensive business case for the project.
Those consultants, KPMG (BVI) Limited, were announced in February 2024 as winners of a $209,089 contract to carry out the business case following the “Green Book Five Case Model” employed by His Majesty’s Treasury in the United Kingdom — which includes separate “strategic,” “economic,” “commercial,” “financial” and “management” cases.
Officials said at the time that the business case would be completed within about three months —and that it would be designed to meet the government’s obligations under a 2012 agreement the VI signed with the UK to promote fiscal stability and transparency.
That agreement, the Protocols for Effective Financial Management, requires government to complete a business case and “robust” cost-benefit analysis before the procurement stage of any major capital project — and to publish it.
But so far, government has announced the completion of just two parts of the study: a “Strategic Outline Case” and an “Outline Business Case.”
Leaders, however, have refused to publish the completed parts even as they cite them as justification for moving ahead with the project.
In response to Beacon requests in recent months, they have said the business case will be released only when all parts of it have been completed.
Outline Business Case
This week, Mr. Rymer didn’t respond to requests for comment, but he told the HOA last Thursday that Cabinet had made its Oct. 1 decision based on a recommendation in the Outline Business Case.
“Following a thorough review of the options presented, Cabinet endorsed a runway extension length of 7,000 feet as the most viable and beneficial option to meet our territory’s aviation and economic needs,” he said.
Mr. Rymer also said the territory is in “active engagement” with London on the project, which he said is not merely an infrastructure upgrade.
“It is a strategic investment in the territory’s future,” he said. “We have made it clear that this project should not be treated as borrowing under the Protocols for Effective Financial Management, but as a developmental investment that will yield significant long-term economic and social returns.”
Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley spoke similarly last month, noting that the runway expansion could hinge on London loosening the VI’s rules under the Protocols, which generally require the territory’s public borrowing to stay within three specific ratios.
“I have written to the UK government,” Mr. Wheatley said at an Oct. 3 press conference. “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 was 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 at the time, adding, “One thing that we are seeking from the UK is confirmation that those won’t be considered a breach of the ratios.”
Governor dodges questions
On Tuesday, Governor Daniel Pruce sidestepped the issue when asked whether the UK has made new arrangements with the VI to facilitate the airport expansion.
Mr. Pruce told a press conference that such questions should be directed to the government.
But government officials did not respond to Beacon queries, which included requests for clarity about the status of the business case and its publication timeline.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London also did not respond to a request for comment.
Master plan
Mr. Rymer also told the HOA last Thursday that a separate Airport Master Plan has been “reviewed and accepted.”
“This plan provides the framework to guide the physical and operational development of the facility, ensuring that the expansion is sustainable, efficient and aligned with the territory’s broader infrastructure and land-use priorities,” he said.
Like the business case, however, this plan has not been published despite repeated requests from the Beacon.
BVI Airports Authority Managing Director Kurt Menal and other government officials did not respond to requests for comment on the plan.
Controversy
The airport expansion has been the subject of heated debate since it was proposed nearly 15 years ago by then-premier Dr. Orlando Smith’s administration.
Dr. Smith and his successors — including Mr. Wheatley — have argued that a major airport expansion is urgently needed to attract larger aircraft that can foster direct connections to the United States mainland and beyond, in turn increasing tourist traffic and revenue to the territory.
But detractors have questioned whether the expansion will bring the direct flights that VI leaders promise. And even if it does, they have said, a longer runway could adversely affect the existing tourism product by bringing more visitors than the territory can properly accommodate — in addition to causing environmental and social issues.
But without a comprehensive business case in the public domain — and without a national plan to guide tourism decisions — residents on both sides of the debate have often relied largely on speculation to make their public arguments.
British Caribbean News
