Minister
of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika said on Tuesday that he will be
relocating his office to the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu
temporary to directly supervise the rehabilitation of the airport which
he said will be completed before the end of April 2020.
The
Minister also announced that the new terminal building for the Murtala
Mohammed International Airport in Lagos and the Aminu Kano International
Airport in Kano will be ready before the end of the year.
Sirika
who spoke while defending his ministry’s budget before the House on
Aviation said with the approval of N10 billion for the Enugu Airport by
the President, the contractors are expected to mobilise to site as soon
as possible, adding that the President has already directed all agencies
associated with the smooth work on the airport to work together to
ensure it was delivered on time.
The Minister disclosed that the
rehabilitation work on the Enugu airport will be done in such a way that
the airport will be the best in the country, adding that all houses
located close to the airport may have to give way for increased safety.
He
said that the Enugu state governor has given assurance that he will
swing into action to ensure that conducive atmosphere is provided for
the rehabilitation of the airport and ask the lawmaker to always visit
the airport to access progress of work.
Speaking on hygiene in
the nation’s airports, the Minister explained that out of the 22 federal
airports in the country, 21 of them were clean and hygienic, adding
that the only place of concern was the Lagos airport.
He
explained that when the Lagos airport was established, it was built to
accommodate 200,000 passengers per annum, stressing that today, the
airport accommodate traffic of about 8 million annually.
He said
that the large volume of traffic makes it impossible for the airport to
be clean, stressing that efforts were being made to complete the new
terminal building in Lagos to ease the traffic on the old building.
Senator
Sirika said further that the delays in the completion of the terminal
building in Lagos has been addressed with the approval of funds by the
President, stressing that the private hangers that were also hampering
the work have started giving way.
He said once the Ministry is
able to complete the new terminal building, the old one will be brought
down to pave way for a new structure and appealed to the lawmakers for
their cooperation in the efforts of the Ministry ensure the nation’s
airports are safe.
On the performance of the 2019 budget, the
Minister told the lawmakers that only N7,330,178,427.45 representing
20.8 percent of the capital allocation to the Ministry was released,
adding that so far N2,627,119,597.14 has been paid out from the released
2019 Budget, while some Certificates of Completion of Projects are
being processed for payment.
He appealed for their support to
ensure that the Aviation Sector is improved by ensuring that the
airports and all the needed equipment necessary for safety and security
are provided to meet the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) as
outlined by regulatory Aviation bodies such as the International Civil
Aviation Organization (lCAO), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)
etc.
He told them that there were challenges with the new
Terminals being built with the $500M loan from the China Exim Bank,
which include changes in structural design of the airports, foundation
footing and escalators; provisions for the biggest modern aircrafts;
change in departure and arrival floors to rhyme with the railway
station; provision of adequate power supply to ensure all facilities are
put to use and relocation of the Control Tower and the Fire Service
Station
He said: “the above has resulted in the need for
variation and additional works to the tune of $461,795,551.02 which has
been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“The China
Exim Bank has indicated willingness to consider funding the above
additional works and we have written to the Ministry of Budget and
National Planning to provide for the Sum of $73,887,288.16
(N22,535,622,888.00 @N305/$) as counterpart fund in 2019 outside the
Ministry’s proposed FGN Budget.
“The President has graciously
approved 50% of this Sum and in 3months we are expecting the balance of
the remaining 50% of the money.
“For the 2020 Budget Proposal, we
have also approach the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National
Planning to provide the counterpart funding for remedial/additional
works and completion of four Chinese terminals at Kano, Abuja, Lagos and
Port Harcourt (($51 ,800,266.99)(N15,850,881,698.94) has been approved
by Mr. President.
He said that about N91.8 billion was being
proposed in the 2020 budget for what he called Viability Funding of the
new national courier, adding that more Bilateral/Multilateral Air
Services Agreement would be signed in 2020 for the benefits of our air
travelers. We have developed a road map for the Aviation Sector that
will be implemented through Public Private Partnership (PPP).
He
disclosed that the establishment of Aerospace University with the
support of International Civil Aviation Organization (lCAO) has been
approved by the President, adding that the ministry already has a policy
of enforcement of expatriate quota in the Industry with the full
cooperation of the Ministry of Interior and immigration Service.
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