MINISTER of Science, Energy, Telecommunications, and Transport Daryl Vaz on Wednesday reported that there was no damage to the runway at Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston from the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

In a statement, Vaz said the roadway between Harbour View roundabout and NMIA remained unaffected.

He noted that there was an issue on the way to Port Royal from the airport roundabout and that equipment was on standby at the airport to clear the roadway once it was safe to do so.

“Thankfully, there is work taking place on the airport and therefore equipment is currently there… which means that the roadway from the airport roundabout to Port Royal will be cleared in the shortest order,” he assured.

Vaz said the Government will be making every effort to ensure the airport resumes operations in the shortest possible time to minimise flight disruptions.

“I expect that as soon as Hurricane Beryl has passed we will be able to clear the road and ensure that the NMIA resumes operations promptly,” he stated.

Jamaica’s two main international airports, NMIA and Sangster, were shuttered Tuesday night as the island braced for Hurricane Beryl.

NMIA closed its runways at 10:00 pm with the reopening “to be determined based on the assessment of post-storm conditions and the safety of resuming operations”.

Meanwhile, the operators of the Sangster International Airport (SIA) said, based on the threat posed by Hurricane Beryl, it shut down operations at 11:59 pm Tuesday.

In the meantime, president and chief executive officer of the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) Audley Deidrick said an assessment will be done of conditions at the island’s airports to determine when they will reopen.

He told JIS News that the assessment is to “attend to any issue that may inhibit opening and state how these will be dealt with in short order for the reopening of the facilities”.