Malfunctioning lights at Marsh Harbor airport repaired

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Minister of Tourism and Aviation, Dionisio D’Aguilar, on Tuesday confirmed that all malfunctioning lights at the Marsh Harbor airport have been fixed.

News broke last week that the national flag carrier had to discontinue night flights into Marsh Harbour due to a lack of adequate airstrip lighting.

When Eyewitness News Online contacted the aviation minister he noted that he was unaware of the issue but would converse with airport management on Marsh Harbour for details.

A subsequent conversation with Minister D’Aguilar revealed that more than 50 per cent of airstrip lights at the airport were out of service.

He assured that he had issued an order to have the situation immediately remedied.

Minister D’Aguilar confirmed Tuesday, outside of Cabinet, that the matter has been addressed and that the airport is currently operational.

“What I did was I asked the head of the airport authority if the lights used in Marsh Harbour are the same lights used on other runways throughout The Bahamas. I was told, ‘yes.’ Luckily for us we had ordered new lights for Acklins and Crooked Island and given the fact that Marsh Harbor is the second busiest airport in the country I directed management to take those uninstalled lights, destined for Acklins and Crooked Islands and use those at Marsh Harbour,” D’Aguilar shared.

Admittedly annoyed at the situation, the aviation minister confirmed that government is moving to implement routine checks of all airports in the country to ensure that similar issues do not arise in the near future.

“I am a little annoyed that it was allowed to deteriorate to that level so I have instructed the chairman of the Airport Authority and the general manager of the Airport Authority to give me a report on all the airports and the status of all of the lights to ensure that this situation is not repeated,” D’Aguilar said.

“The issue in Marsh Harbor was a management issue so we are addressing that.”

Bahamasair confirmed Tuesday night that it will resume normal evening service to Marsh Harbour airport as of Thursday.

The airline apologized to its customers for any inconvenience caused as a result of the interruption in service.

About Theo Sealy

Theo Sealy is an award-winning journalist who serves as senior broadcast reporter and weekend TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. He has achieved several career milestones, including his work as a field contributor with CNN, his coverage of four consecutive general elections, his production of several docuseries and his Bahamas Press Club Awards win for “Best Television News Story” in 2018.