PLS Airport Canopy WON’T be ready for June 

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, May 15, 2023 – The canopy at the Providenciales international airport is extremely delayed and residents shouldn’t look for completion anytime soon.  The unfortunate news was shared by Godfrey Smith, CEO of the Turks and Caicos Islands Airport Authority, in a sitting of the Appropriations Committee on May 2nd.

“The timeline of the canopy is now June of this year but to be very frank with you, the way it’s been going I don’t think it’s gonna happen in June,” he said.

The CEO was responding to Willin Belliard, Governors Appointed member of the House of Assembly, who had attended the opening and found it ‘difficult to understand why it had not been completed.’

The canopy has missed every deadline set since ground was broken in May 2022, a year after it was initially announced.  Crown Construction was awarded the contract then and Director of the Board, Kyle Smith promised to hold them to their timelines.

The initial end date was October 2022, a five-month span.  It was then pushed to November 2022, which also passed without completion.  In a press release dated November 30th, the TCIAA said the canopy was 60 percent complete and would be open for business in February instead. That didn’t happen either.  Now based on Smith’s comments, there will be little respite for guests as they come to the Turks and Caicos in a summer of what is expected to be both record travel and record heat.

“We are trying everything that we can to drive the process but it’s taking longer– we are digging with the service provider trying to find ways to to get it done, we’ve done some extraordinary things to help them with that.  I do hope that it will get done but that is my optimism I suppose,” he said.

He maintained though that the TCIAA was trying to improve service on their end with a $3 million dollar expansion on the way to give them more space to operate and more gates.

Additionally, they were making use of the areas of the canopy that were already finished which Smith said was 70 to 71 percent done.

He acknowledged that it was an issue and committed to seeing it completed.