Haiti Lays First Stone on Expansion of Airport in Les Cayes

Above: Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe laying the first stone on the project (Photo: OPM Haiti)

By Alexander Britell

Haiti has laid the first stone on the expansion of the Antoine-Simon Airport project in Les Cayes.

The project to make Antoine-Simon a viable international airport is part of the government’s efforts to ramp up infrastructure development in Haiti’s South department.

It will add a new 3,000-metre runway strip and a new terminal, according to Ministry of Tourism.

The move comes ahead of what the government said was another planned airport project on the island of Ile a Vache, which Haiti Prime Minister told Caribbean Journal in December was one of Haiti’s main priorities for tourism development.

In a statement, Lamothe said his government sees tourism as one of the “promising sectors” capable of creating thousands of new jobs in the region.

Haiti recently unveiled a significant renovation of the country’s main airport in Port-au-Prince in 2012.

Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin told Caribbean Journal that the airport would “open up completely” the southern region.