Where is St Helena Airport and why is it controversial?
MPs blasted plans to spend £285 million of International aid on the project arguing that it could have been better spent on other things.
THE government has been slammed for spending millions of pounds on an airport on the tiny island of St Helena, even though it is hardly ever used.
But where is the island and why have these government plans been so widely panned?
The Sun is here with all you need to know about this controversial policy.
Where is St Helena?
St Helena is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean about 2,500 miles east of Rio de Janiero.
The island measures 10 by 5 miles with a population of just 4,534 people and was named after the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, Saint Helena of Constantinople.
It was originally discovered uninhabited in 1502 by Spanish explorer Joao da Nova whilst he was in the service of the Kingdom of Portugal.
Years later Sir Francis Drake visited the island as he sailed around the globe and after that further visits by the English followed.
The Dutch claimed the island in 1633 but soon abandoned it in favour of Cape Town in South Africa.
The English East India Company were given the right to govern the island by Oliver Cromwell in 1657 and after the restoration of the Monarchy three years later the island received a royal charter and it has been ruled by the British ever since.
It is perhaps most famous for being the place Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to in 1815 following his crushing defeat by the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo earlier that year.
Why is the airport controversial?
The airport is principally controversial because of its astronomical price of £285m.
St Helena is currently only accessible by boat from Cape Town owing to its remote location small size and high winds.
A commercial flight did land on the island in April but took three attempts to land causing he opening ceremony to be scrapped.
Since then ‘wind shear’ – first spotted as a problem on the island by Charles Darwin in 1836 – has prevented all but a handful of flights.
Meg Hillier, the Labour chair on the cross-party Public Accounts Committee stormed: “The Government has an obligation to support St Helena but a £285 million white elephant serves neither its people nor the taxpayers footing the bill.
“The failure to undertake robust due diligence on this project is truly appalling. I also have serious concerns about the airport’s business case, which was marginal at best. The result is a disaster, a commercial airport that is not fit for purpose.”
The PAC added that the Department for International Development (DFID) had still not come clear over who was responsible for the huge gaffe.
A DFID spokesperson said: “One of the first things the Secretary of State did this summer was to take concrete actions to get the airport up and running and to ensure the lessons from this project are learnt.
“We are already seeing the results.
“An external expert was brought in to review evidence of DFID’s actions while an independent panel has been tasked with finding a solution to challenges presented by wind shear."
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