Singapore
is an island city-state in Southeast Asia. It was founded by Britain as a
trading colony in 1819. Lee Kuan Yew became its first Prime Minister in 1959. Four
years later, Singapore joined the Malaysian Federation, but was asked to leave
in 1965.
After
separation from the Malaysian Federation, it became a sovereign republic.
Without a regional alliance, facing hostile neighbours and the imminent
departure of the British armed forces, its very existence was in jeopardy.
Lee Kuan
Yew concluded that: “...we had to make
extraordinary effort to ...do things better and cheaper than our neighbours,
because they wanted to bypass us and render obsolete our role as entrepôt and
middleman for the trade of the region.”
In the Competitiveness
of Small Nations: What Matters? , authors Densil Williams and Beverly
Morgan note that Caribbean islands have economic structures, history, and
institutions similar to Singapore in the 1960’s. Singapore subsequently surpassed
their development.
With
respect to Jamaica, Singapore is presently one of the three global logistics
hubs: the others being Dubai and Rotterdam. Jamaica plans to become the fourth
global logistics hub: serving Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the
U.S. Gulf and east coasts.
In the
Logistics and Supply Chain Management page of the current website of
Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB), Changi Airport is featured prominently
for global connectivity. The story behind the development of this airport could
prove instructive to Jamaica’s Logistics effort.
Changi
International Airport was formerly the Royal Air Force Changi Airbase. On departure
of British forces, abandoned airfields would typically be used for light
industry or agriculture. But, Lee Kuan Yew thought neither use suited
Singapore. Instead, he negotiated the early access of EDB to this airbase.
Nevertheless,
the airport was almost never built. An airport at Paya Lebar was in use prior
to the oil crisis in 1973, but it was considered inadequate for the future
growth of Singapore’s aviation sector without significant expansion.
A British
aviation consultant had recommended that a second runway should be built at the
Paya Lebar Airport, and completed by 1978. This they concluded “would entail
the lowest land acquisition costs and require the least resettlement”. But, the
Serangoon River would have to be diverted.
After the
oil crisis, a second study was commissioned: this time by U.S. consultants, who
concurred with the British consultants that a second runway should be built at the
Paya Lebar Airport. They also warned that construction of two runways at Changi
Airbase could not be completed by 1978.
Lee Kuan
Yew was unconvinced. He constituted a
committee to reconsider the Changi relocation. This committee also supported
the recommendation of the aviation consultants that the airport should not be
relocated to Changi, an additional runway should be built at the Paya Lebar Airport.
Finally,
Lee Kuan Yew asked the Chairman of the Port of Singapore to chair a second
committee to re-examine the Changi relocation. Their conclusion was that an
additional runway at Paya Lebar could not be completed before 1984, because
allowance was needed for the proper compaction of the river bed.
The first
runway of the Changi International Airport was completed and opened in 1981.
The second runway was completed in1984. When completed, it was Asia’s largest
airport. Three decades later, it is still one of Asia’s largest cargo airports.
In the
words of Lee Kuan Yew, Changi Airport “helped Singapore become the hub airport
of the region”. It involved resettlement and demolition of hundreds of
buildings, exhuming graves, clearing swamps and reclaiming land from the sea.
Currently,
one of its three terminals is being expanded. The construction of this 134,000
square meter building dubbed the “Jewel Airport Expansion”, which will also be
connected to the two other terminals, is scheduled for completion in 2018.
In Jamaica,
circumstances are similar to what existed prior to the Changi relocation.
Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA), originally called the
Palidoes Airport, was built in 1948. But, its expansion is confined by the
narrow Palisadoes peninsular on which it is located.
Though
located close to the Port of Kingston, the Government of Jamaica has
designated the former Vernamfield Airbase as the next cargo airport. Vernamfield
is a 55 km flight distance from NMIA. The property is located at Portland Bight
in Southern Clarendon.
During
World War II, Britain leased Vernamfield and the Goat Islands to the United
States. An airbase was constructed at Vernamfield and a Naval base at Goat
Islands by 1941. Vernam Field Air Force Base, as it was called, had three
runways.
The base was
reduced to caretaker status towards the end of 1944, and the U.S. closed both
bases in 1949, when military engagement shifted from Europe to the Pacific.
This involved the removal or demolition of all of its structures.
The area has
been derelict from that time. But in March 2014, the Honourable Anthony Hilton
– Minister of Industry and Investment – speaking at the Northern Caribbean
University, is reported as saying it is to become an “international air and sea
cargo hub”.
The 1,174
hectare Vernamfield property is proposed to be a major economic driver in ”the
country’s logistics revolution”. The Port of Kingston and Caymanas Special Economic
Zone (CSEZ) are also proposed to be linked to Vernamfield by railway and
Highway 2000.
So, major
development is proposed for the area. However, the larger Portland Bight Area, which
is spread over an area of 187,600 hectares, was designated a protected area by
the Jamaican Government in 1999 to protect both its terrestrial and marine
area.
The
Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA) is actually home to a chemical lime
quarry, an Ethanol Plant, the island’s main power station, power barges, and
Rocky Point Port. The area has three designated fish sanctuaries, of which the
Goat Islands is not included.
Unlike Singapore,
Jamaica does not have hostile neighbours. But, Jamaica’s neighbours are equally
intent on bypassing it as a logistics hub. Chief of which is Panama itself. It has
been constructing its logistics infrastructure and operating it in advance of completing
the widening of its Canal.
That
strategic advantage is to be challenged by the construction of the proposed
Nicaragua Canal, which would give Jamaica the advantage of having ports with
direct access to both canals. Jamaica’s
central geographical location also makes it equally accessible by air.
Lee Kuan
Yew himself epitomised development-centred leadership: first in recognising
Changi’s potential, giving EDB early access to the airfield, choosing the
chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) to manage the project, and
ensuring the continued improvement of the facility.
In
contrast, closure of the Vernamfield and Goat Islands bases predate Changi by
decades, but no one managed their transition into civilian use. Instead, the
facilities were demolished and allowed to go to ruins. In fact, NMIA was being
built when Vernamfield was being shut down.
Selecting
PSA’s chairman to manage the relocation to Changi allowed for a multi-modal
solution to the problem. This
may also be beneficial to Jamaica if it follows suit, or at least manage the Vernamfield/Goat Islands project as a
single initiative.
Some may
say Lee Kuan Yew simply disregarded all studies until he found one that suited
him. But, Changi stands as proof of his visionary stewardship and legacy for
Singapore’s continued pre-eminence as a global logistics hub.
Previous
studies by the aviation consultants cited two problems with relocation to
Changi: its higher cost and longer construction period. The latter was proven
false and the former would have been more expensive in the long run, as Paya
Lebar Airport could not have accommodated subsequent expansions.
With the
exception of a report recommending relocation the Goat Islands Port, Jamaica
has had no objection to the building of the Vernamfield Airport, although both
facilities are proposed to be built in the PBPA and will be interconnected.
This report
was undertaken by the Conservation Strategy Fund, Conservation Agreement Fund,
and Niras Fraenkel Limited. It states that construction of the port at Macarry
Bay was estimated to cost US$200-million less than at Goat Islands.
Macarry Bay
was considered superior to Goat Islands “except
with respect to its access to the road network and Kingston...”. This cost
advantage is therefore questionable. The port is not meant to be a stand-alone
facility but part of a multi-modal logistics hub.
Also,
construction costs typically dwarf in comparison to operating expenses anyway.
So, locating the port outside the PBPA simply to transport freight back and
forth from the Vernamfield Airport, located within the PBPA, makes little sense
and is unlikely to be cost-effective.
Like
Singapore’s initial studies, this report by conservation special interest
groups and a port and marine-engineering consultancy does not seem to consider
the wider picture of building a world class logistics hub, not just a “World
Class Port”.
A consortium
of Chinese investors was once interested in developing the Caymanas Special
Economic Zone (CSEZ), but required an airport. The previous government-administration
was only able to propose relocation of the Tinson Pen Airfield, then adjacent
to the Port of Kingston, to CSEZ.
The
Vernamfield/Goat Islands initiative offers a multi-modal solution to kick-start
the Jamaica Logistics Hub. Understandably, a life-cycle analysis needs to be
conducted to examine all environmental and operational concerns and guide the
present administration’s deliberation on this project.
For
Singapore, developing Changi presented a greater environmental impact compared
to Paya Lebar. Hundreds of buildings had to be demolished and occupants
resettled, graves had to be exhumed, swamps cleared, and land reclaimed. But in
the final analysis, Changi proved the better choice.
