For­mer di­rec­tor gen­er­al of the Civ­il Avi­a­tion Au­thor­i­ty Ramesh Lutch­me­di­al says there is the re­al pos­si­bil­i­ty of the lights fail­ing at the Pi­ar­co and Crowne Point In­ter­na­tion­al Air­ports if an im­me­di­ate up­grade was not done.

He said that in an in­ter­view with Jy­oti Com­mu­ni­ca­tions in Cana­da yes­ter­day. Asked if there was a clear and present dan­ger of an ac­ci­dent oc­cur­ring, Lutch­me­di­al said: "Ab­solute­ly."

He said the lights could fail dur­ing a land­ing.

Lutch­me­di­al stressed three things:

�2 The light­ing up­grade is ur­gent and nec­es­sary;

�2 the process be­gan with the pre­vi­ous board and fol­lowed all the prop­er rules; and,

�2 the min­is­ter act­ed legal­ly and with­in his right in the ab­sence of a board.

Ef­forts by the T&T Guardian to con­tact Lutch­me­di­al up to late yes­ter­day proved fu­tile.