Senate tasks FG on urgent repair of Enugu Int’l Airport

The red chamber also mandated its committee on Aviation to investigate cir-cumstances surrounding the award of renovation of airports in the country and the shoddy execution of such contracts, which resulted in the deplorable state of affairs of the various airports. The resolution was sequel to a motion entitled, “the need for urgent renovation of the facilities and infrastructure of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu” by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North). In his contribution, Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is also a native of Enugu State, lamented that the Akanu Ibiam International Airport was always flooded whenever it rained, making the place unsafe for users. He noted that the runway of the airport which was upgraded to the status of an international airport on August 24, 2013, was bad and had on different occasions, damaged planes. Utazi while also lamenting the pathetic state of the airport, said debris and wind-blown garbage had littered the inside of the buildings, thereby putting passengers, staff and other users of the airport in danger. He said: “Considering the South East is the last, among all the geopolitical zones to have an international airport, this development is disheartening and would not only expose users of the airport to danger, it would also discourage international airlines and interests from using the airport. “The current dilapidated state of the facilities and the infrastructure of the airport is a huge disincentive to the use of the airport and endanger the lives of the people who use it, besides being a bad testament to the standard of infrastructure in Nigeria’s critical aviation sector.” On the planned investigation of the circumstances surrounding the award of renovation of airports in the country and the shoddy jobs that resulted in the bad state of the various airports, the Senate urged the committee on Aviation to report back soon, though without a definite time frame.]]>