THE Asaba International Airport is one project that was received with fanfare and great expectations. But, for sometime, the government of Delta State has taken a lot of bashing because of the state of the airport, to the extent that the Federal Government downgraded it, to accommodate only Dash 8-Q 400 aircrafts or its equivalent.
This is an airport that has recorded between March, 2011 and December, 2011 not less than 10,606 flights, with 188,156 passengers arriving and 178,545 departing, playing host to Boeing 737 and other planes. There is no doubt, that, the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa will be having sleepless nights to ensure that the airport is fully functional again. On resumption of duty as the governor of the oil-rich Delta
State, the first point of call of the governor was inspecting the multi-billion naira project and at that occasion, he re-assured the people that the project would not be abandoned. And at the ground-breaking ceremony of a multi-billion naira Shopping Mall in Asaba, the governor re-echoed his commitment towards making the Asaba International Airport, not only functional to full capacity, but, upgraded to have a cargo section.
As a follow up to efforts towards speedy upgrade of the airport, members of the Delta State Executive Council paid an inspection visit to the airport where they were received by the Project Director for the Airport, Hon. Austin Ayemidejor. Hon. Ayemidejor knew everything about the airport and understands its challenges as he eloquently briefed the commissioners about the state of the airport, especially, what led to its downgrade by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and the way forward. The airport has an imposing edifice as terminal building but the commissioners were specific, they were not interested in the physical structure, they were interested in the 3.4 km runway and 1.5 km taxiway. They took a walk round, pointing out cracked portions of the taxiway and frowning at the level of job done by the contractors handling the project. Of course, the contractors cum consultants handling the project – ULO Construction Company, Levant Construction Company, CCC Construction Company, China Geology Cooperation (C.G.C), among others were there during the inspection visit and some of them offered their professional advice.
From the taxiway, buses were provided which, took the commissioners, the contractors, journalists, including yours sincerely through the runway, where a critical analysis of the project was done as the commissioners who were on fact-finding mission asked probing questions. Some of the commissioners who were on the factfinding mission include the Commissioner for Works, Chief James Augoye; the Commissioner for Water sources, Chief Fidelis Tilije; that of Basic and Secondary Education Ministry, Hon. Chiedu Ebie; Commissioner for Energy, Barr. Newworld Safugha; Commissioner in charge of Directorate of Science and Technology, Mr. Joyce Overa; that of Economic Planning, Mr. Kingsley Emu and his Ministry of Transport counterpart, Mr. Vincent Uduaghan.
They saw but, they were cautious of the fact that journalists were in their midst. Naturally, questions were asked and the Commissioner for Works, Chief Augoye had the responsibility of talking to Journalists. To him, appropriate measures were being taken to ensure that the airport does not only accommodate small aircrafts, but, upgraded to accommodate bigger aircrafts in the likes of Boeing 747 in the nearest future.
“It is feasible to complete this project within the next six months, we are here on an on-the-spot-assessment, this inspection will enable us see what we can do for contractors to speed up the level of work being done. We are not going to compromise on quality, we have also said that only competent contractors who have track record of quality job delivery would be patronized by this administration, we are confident that Deltans will get the best because, they deserve the best,” the commissioner said.
The importance of the Asaba International Airport, to the socio-economic development of Delta State and neighbouring states cannot be over emphasised. Apart from the fast and reliable movement of goods and services, the airport project has given a boost to tourism. This is because, travelers, who are on transit stay in Asaba. One cannot also rule out the fact that a lot of persons have been employed either directly or indirectly as a result of the airport, while the state government’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) will certainly get a boost as a result of the airport. Governor Okowa, deserves kudos for strongly believing that the airport has come to stay. It is the people’s expectations that the state executive council will do the needful to ensure that the six-month period for the completion of the upgrade is not a mirage. Deltans are watching, air travellers are praying and of course, it is possible.