Bermuda needs a new airport. The need is most keenly felt by the people working there — mopping up rainwater from lounges and offices, jerry-rigging ageing systems so they do not fail, or accompanying disabled and elderly people in wind, rain and shine because there is no wheelchair access or jetways.

The Progressive Labour Party agrees Bermuda needs a new airport. It made plans to build one when it was in government, but never got around to it, even though its research said the airport complex would reach the end of its useful life in 2008.

The One Bermuda Alliance government saw the same need for a terminal, but had no way to proceed because of the immense pressures created by the deficits and public debt that we inherited. This fiscal year alone, for example, the Government must pay out $187 million in interest on the debt.

That is more than half a million dollars a day that must go to Bermuda’s creditors before we can support community life. That shocking statistic gives you some idea of the severe constraints we face because of our debt. It is a huge challenge requiring us to be very careful when deciding how to support and protect Bermudians. So I take my hat off to finance minister Bob Richards for coming up with a deal with the Government of Canada that gets the airport terminal built without adding to our national debt.

Funding is to be raised by Aecon, the project’s prime subcontractor selected by the Canadian Government, with lenders paid back over time through revenues generated by users of the airport. That’s right, Bermuda. Users of the airport, not taxpayers, will pay for the airport. How sensible is that?

By keeping it off the Government’s books, the project will not encroach on the Government’s ability to maintain spending priorities on things that matter to people such as education, health and safety, good roads, financial assistance …

One way to look at the deal is this: buying a new airport and using its revenue to pay for it is much a like a family taking out a mortgage to buy a home. While the family live in it, they pay it off over time.

Some people say they agree on the need for a new airport — just “not now, we can’t afford it”.

Let’s think about that. The PLP has said wait ten years and then put it out to tender. Can anyone say with confidence that we would be able to afford it then? That is ten years of borrowing to maintain and upgrade a rickety complex of buildings that is failing us today, ten years of Band-Aid fixes that would cost the public purse at least $100 million, likely more. That is $100 million going to buildings, not people.

Now consider that we will not be able to start paying down Bermuda’s debt until 2019-20, and then only if we stay on the path we are taking to finally eliminate Bermuda’s deficit. Whatever progress we make paying down the debt in the years that follow will no doubt be swamped by an airport project that could cost Bermudians half a billion dollars — driving us right back into a debt hole that we need to get out of.

Bermuda, the time is now.

We have a project that will protect our ability to meet the needs of Bermudians in all areas, with a commitment by the Canadian Government to see it completed on time and on budget. Imagine that, Bermuda: a capital project that will not incur the cost overruns and delays that afflicted so many past projects and helped to drive our debt into the stratosphere. We have a project that will create hundreds of jobs and career opportunities for Bermudians and significantly reduce the risk of catastrophic airport damage from hurricane storm surge.

This is a deal that works for Bermuda in multiple ways — the right deal at the right time for the right reasons. Let’s act now and build something that will serve you, your family and the people of Bermuda for many years to come.

• Michael Dunkley is the Premier of Bermuda and the MP for Smith’s North (Constituency 10)

• The redevelopment of LF Wade International Airport is being advanced under a development agreement between the governments of Canada and Bermuda. The Canadian Commercial Corporation is a Crown corporation for the Government of Canada and brings expertise in international contracting for complex purchases and the experience to select highly capable suppliers, such as Aecon. Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) is a Canadian leader in construction and infrastructure development, providing integrated turnkey services to private and public sector clients through its Concessions division. www.aecon.com