The
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport airport is set to be closed down
for many weeks by the Federal Government as new measures are taken for
safety.
Mr. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of
State for Aviation, on monday said the Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport (NAIA) in Abuja would be closed between February and March next
year to allow Julius Berger carry out repairs on the damaged runway.
Briefing journalists after an on-the-spot assessment of the runway,
he said while the runway would still be put to use during the six
months of rehabilitation, the airport would however be shut for six
weeks between February and March, when the mid section of the runway
would be reconstructed.
According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the
reconstruction work through the emergency procurement procedure for work
to commence because of the centrality and importance of Abuja to the
general administration of the country.
He admitted that government cannot afford to close down Abuja
airport for a long time, even though palliative repairs had been ongoing
at the runway in the last three months.
The minister said: “From start to finish of the runway, it will
take six months. However we will be using the runway almost throughout
the period except for about six weeks when the runway will be closed.
That is when we are going to do the mid-section of the runway.”
According to him, government had accepted the design done by the
contractor, adding that the runway would last for more than 10 years on
completion early next year.
On the six weeks closure of the airport to passenger traffic, he
said Abuja bound passengers from any part of the world will use the
Kaduna airport as alternative, explaining that robust arrangement had
been finalised the with Kaduna State Government to convey the passengers
to Abuja.
Sirika said: “It will cost government substantial amount of
money but we thought in our wisdom that palliative approach is wrong
because three years down, we will come back to do the same repairs
therefore we decided to go for the bigger option which is to do
structural repairs if the runway which will take about six months to
complete."
The minister said the government was not unaware of the pains
passengers are currently going through due to the non-availability of
aviation fuel and the scarcity of foreign exchange which has also
impacted on government finance.
While pleading for understanding, he said consultations were
ongoing with oil marketers, the Ministry of Petroleum and Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN) to resolve the crisis, adding: “Very soon, the country will be out of this, as we cannot be relying on Ghana for aviation fuel.”
On the Bilateral Air Agreement with other countries, he said
government had signed BASA with 18 countries that Nigerians frequently
visit and do business with.
The MOUs, he said, gives Nigeria the opportunity to operate air services with 18 countries, adding: “With this, we have the freedom to fly and land safely in other air space and this will assist in opening our market.”
While expressing optimism that Nigeria will reap great benefits
from Turkey, he said that country had made progress in air
transportation being at the centre of Europe and therefore a hub in
aviation business, adding that the United States of America operates
open skies with Nigeria.
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