PRESSURE BUILDS ON UK GOVERNMENT FOR AN AIRPORT ON ST HELENA

The UK Government’s Consultation on whether an airport should be built on St Helena has produced “overwhelming” support for the project to go ahead, according to sources on the Island. Around two thousand responses from all over the world are believed to have been received by the Department for International Development (DfID), which instigated the Consultation following a campaign in the UK and St Helena opposing the Government’s decision, last December, to halt the project. In addition the DfID facilitator has taken evidence from over 1,000 people in St Helena and the UK. St Helena is a UK Overseas Territory with a population of just over 4,000 people, the majority are British Citizens. There is also a substantial population of Saints in Britain. St Helena is only accessible by sea and the journey takes a minimum of 14 days from the UK. When the RMS St Helena (the only ship) makes the trip to the UK twice a year St Helena is cut off from the outside world for up to five weeks. The Island has experienced a gradual decline in economic activity and an exodus of its workforce. The Island’s population has fallen by almost 25 per cent in the last ten years. The average salary for local people is £4,500 a year, but goods and food are more expensive than in the UK because of freight charges. For this reason, and the fact that there are only limited opportunities for skilled workers and young people, many Saints are being forced to leave their families to seek work abroad. An airport would allow the island to develop a sustainable high value, low volume tourism industry which would inject cash (up to £33 million a year by UK Government estimates) into the community whilst minimising negative impacts. This would then allow the Island to become self sufficient. In January 2002, 70 per cent of Islanders voted in favour of air access and in April 2005 the British Government announced plans to construct an airport. With the promise of an airport the Island’s population ceased to decline and there has already been substantial investment in developing the Island’s tourism industry. However, on 8th December 2008, the UK Government halted the project. Although DfID accepts that without an airport, St. Helena will remain dependent on substantial and growing UK aid indefinitely, the Consultation which has just ended was launched in April this year. The St Helena Government UK Representative Kedell Worboys said: “The support for the airport has been overwhelming. Saints both on the Island and overseas desperately want to secure their own future whilst at the same time relieving the burden on the UK taxpayer. Both they and the British Government know that an airport is the only way of doing this.” A decision not to build an airport would represent an enormous false economy as continued subsidies will ultimately cost the British taxpayer far more than the cost of an airport. The alternative option of replacing the RMS St Helena with another ship would cost £75 million and would do nothing to reverse the Island’s increasing dependence. Sharon Wainwright, the St Helena Air Access Project Manager on the Island commented: “St Helenians do not want charity. We simply want to stand on our own feet. Building an airport now would provide a return on investment and reduce subsidies which could then be used for other DfID projects. It makes financial sense and is quite simply the best option for everyone. We can only hope that the UK Government will take the outcome of their latest public consultation seriously and make a speedy, positive decision on St Helena's future." The decision to hold a Consultation rather than pressing ahead immediately in building the airport has provoked much criticism in political circles. The Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on St Helena. Bob Russell MP, commented: “St Helena has been treated shamefully by the British Government. Saints have served Britain loyally over the years and the island has the most people per head of population serving in Her Majesty’s armed forces. The simple maths is that an airport will make the island self-sufficient. That has to be a bargain. It makes economic sense. We can’t understand why the Government has wasted yet more money on a consultation to which they already knew the answer.” A final decision on building the airport is expected in December when the results of the Consultation have been collated. For further information contact John Stanley on 020 7839 2140 or john@keenepa.co.uk. -Ends- Note to Editors: 1. St Helena is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, with its own legislature and a high degree of internal self-government. 2. It is an island of 47 square miles (122 sq.km) situated 1,200 miles off the west coast of Africa. 3. The number of tourists currently is less than 1,500 a year but the opening of an airport could quadruple that number in the next ten years without undermining the essential way of life and natural attractions of St Helena.