Tankweld Construction has received its second endorsed contract to upgrade the arrival terminal at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston totalling some $130 million since last September.

The latest contract valued at $28.5 million was endorsed by the National Contracts Committee (NCC) and posted last week on the listings by the Office of the Contractor General.

The contract now awaits parliamentary approval and involves the “construction of the arrival forecourt, shopping arcade and tour bus shed at NMIA,” according to the Office of the Contractor General’s website.

The previous contract endorsed by the NCC last September related to the exact project. It is geared at improving the “experience of arriving passengers as well as meeters and greeters by the provision of additional space for the immigration processes, retail opportunities, seating, covered external walkway and the facilitation of the tour bus service”, according to the Airport’s Authority of Jamaica (AAJ)–which manages the airport. The NMIA will undergo a $1.46-billion capital upgrade this fiscal year; which is 30 per cent higher than the previous fiscal year, and includes some 20 projects at various stages of completion according to the AAJ and data from the Jamaica Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. Projects include the extension of its runway by 300 metres to improve safety, and modernise its immigration hall.