Port Director Said He Had Not Met A Specific Requirement For 17 Years

The airport manager at Cyril E. King Airport (CEKA) in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands has been released after 17 years of service. 

Port Authority Acting Executive Director David Mapp said that Jose Nazario, the fired manager, had failed to meet a requirement of his original employment for the entire 17 years he had been at the helm of King Airport. But citing employee confidentiality, he did specifically name that unmet condition. "When he was promoted, the position came with a strict stipulation. It's been 17 years and he hasn't done it," Mapp told the Virgin Islands Daily News.

Mapp said that the condition was last discussed with Nazario in 2012, when Mapp was interim executive director of the Port Authority. He also said that the condition of King Airport is "embarrassing. 

The Port Authority has laid off an unspecified number of employees in the last two weeks. Nazario's termination will reportedly save the agency $400,000. Not all of those layoffs came from the airport.

Mapp said that the port authority is looking at multiple sources to make up revenue shortfalls in the fiscal year 2017 budget. "We're trying to get some fees this year from the airlines. That process hasn't been completed yet." Map would not place a specific number on the budget deficit, saying only it was "substantial."

FMI: www.viport.com/airports