The high expectations of completing and inaugurating Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu by April 2020 deadline, may not be realised following the amount of work yet to be done and materials needed to complete the project.
Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, led by the Nnoli Nnaji expressed disappointment over the snail speed of work at the project site.
“Let me be frank with you, we are not happy with the pace of work and it is not acceptable to us, if you don’t complete this thing before the Easter. This is because, I have discussed with the consultant and we have also promised the governor, the people of South East and everybody using this airport that it would be completed and commissioned before Easter,” Nnaji said.
Nnaji said that the contractor, PW, must double its efforts towards ensuring the airport is reopened by Easter, as earlier promised and that they must make sure it is of international standard because they would not be happy to revisit the airport on the ground of poor quality of work.
The team that was in Enugu for oversight function, mainly to ascertain the extent of work done on the runway visited other important sections for safe landing of aircraft which include the Very High Frequency (VHF), Omni-Directional Range (VOR) site, Distance measuring equipment (DME) and meteorological facilities behind NNPC depot at Emene surrounded by bush inside swamp-prone area.
However, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the governor of Enugu State had earlier promised to construct the road.
The consultant, Sari Baba said the runway has been expanded to international standard both at length and width. BDSUNDAY’s checks however, show that every other section has not seen serious changes despite the N10 billion approved for the reconstruction of the airport since last year, hence the committee demanded from the contractor the Bill of Quantity which was not made available immediately.
Nnaji, the committee chairman, at the end of the inspection appealed to the contractor and consultant to kindly ensure that the rehabilitation of the runway and installation of necessary equipment such as landing lights are ready before Easter.
He disclosed that Governor Ugwuanyi and South-East governors have made lots of commitments towards the reopening of the airport, and that the entire South East people as well as all those using the airport are eagerly awaiting the completion of the project as promised.
“We are asking you to apply all necessary means to facilitate this all-important project. You promised us that even if it means working at nights, that you people will achieve it. Double your efforts so that this airport can be used before Easter. There are certain things you complained about; the consultant said they have been taken care of. So, I don’t think there will be issues.
“We are pleading with you to deliver quality work as scheduled. We don’t want to disappoint our people. We want to make sure that we live up to our promise,” he said.
Speaking to journalists at the airport, Greg Nnaji, the Enugu State commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, who is also member of the Technical Committee of the South East Governors Forum on the rehabilitation of the Enugu Airport, restated Ugwuanyi’s commitment towards the completion of renovation works at the airport.
Regis Anukwuoji, Enugu
