The joint committee of the National Assembly on Aviation Tuesday said the $200 million Abuja Airport Terminal constructed by Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) was 80 percent completed.
The committee said it was impressed with the level of work so far done by the company, urging it to ensure that all that was required was fixed before the facility was put to use. The company has put February 2018 as possible date of completion.
But, Kelvin Lee, the project manager, said unless there was upgrade of existing power and water supply, the commissioning date might not be possible, saying without upgrade of the existing power and water supply capacity, the facility would not be functional.
His disclosure came when the joint committee of the National Assembly led by Adamu Aliero embarked on an oversight tour of facilities at the Abuja airport.
Lee said it would be of no value to complete a terminal of such magnitude without requisite power and water supply, and urged government to facilitate funding to accelerate the provision of support equipment that would enable the company deliver the terminal before the end of next year.
Speaking in an interview after the tour, Aliero said the committee was working with the Ministry of Aviation on ways to secure funds to ensure the terminal was delivered with all equipment in place.
There is no going back on the construction of a second runway for Abuja airport because of the increasing passenger traffic and capacity for the airport, Aliero said.
He said the Abuja is the only airport among the major airports without a second runway. Aliero said the National Assembly has already made provision for the second runway for Abuja in next year’s budget.
He said all that is left is for the Ministry of Aviation to make arrangement for the procurement and award for the contract.
