No fair and equitable resolution to the problems of airport concessions will be found until Transport Minister Wayne Furbert rises above his alliances to close friends and does what is right, an Opposition Minister has said.

And Shadow Transport Minister Dennis Lister claimed the principals behind Grape Bay Ltd. need to be forced to honour their contract so that visitors and residents can benefit.

Mr. Lister's comments came a day after allegations of a conflict of interest arose in relation to the permission granted to Specialty Coffee Ltd. to operate a coffee vending machine at the airport.

One of the principals behind the company that was incorporated last month is the Transport Minister Wayne Furbert's wife Ulene and members of her immediate family.

Mr. Furbert yesterday pulled his wife's vending machine from the airport which means that there is no specialty coffee available for visitors or residents.

But Mr. Lister lampooned Mr. Furbert's explanation that there was no favouritsm shown to his wife or her family because the service they were giving was temporary. Mr. Lister said:"The suggestion that there was nothing wrong done because it was just a temporary response to a need that arose cannot be supported or justified.

"That explanation leads to further questions which recover further conflicts of interest.'' Mr. Lister said that when the bigger question of why the need arose in the first place is examined, the spotlight was immediately directed at the Minister and his relationship with former Premier Sir John Swan and backbencher Maxwell Burgess.

"Mr. Furbert's biggest conflict comes out of Grape Bay Ltd,'' Mr. Lister asserted.

Grape Bay, he pointed out, had been awarded the contract for a concession to provide food services at the airport and that contract still stood.

Consequently, he said the solution should be for the Minister to force Grape Bay Ltd. to honour its contract.

"There should be no need for temporary services,'' he continued. "Grape Bay Ltd. should be providing that service regardless of what their situation is.

The contract never specified with whom they were to be affiliated.

"It could be done on a temporary basis until they resolve other issues relating to their company.

"But the truth of the matter is that this is another one of those conflicts that the Transport Minister is unable to resolve. One of Grape Bay Ltd's principals is his running mate Maxwell Burgess and the other is Sir John Swan, a former leader of the party who got Mr. Furbert into politics.

"Mr. Furbert has to be bigger than all of that. He has got to put it all aside and deal with what is best for the country.'' Meanwhile, Jack Gordon, general manager of the department of Airport Operations, said that he was seeking another business to run a coffee shop on a temporary business.

"We had been shopping around in the first place and that is how we came up with Specialty Coffee Ltd.

"It seems as if our tourists and the travelling public are less of a subject of concern than some of the other issues that have arisen in relation to this entire matter.

"We are interested in anyone who wishes to provide a temporary service. We are willing to enter into some discussions if we can find an interested party.'' AIRPORT FLY