Minister of Transportation, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has revealed that facilities that will make the Port Harcourt International Airport to function fully will be put in place by the end of the first quarter of 2008.
Speaking at the formal opening of the airport in Port Harcourt yesterday, she described the closure of the airport for repairs as very painful, adding that its reopening was crucial to the economic well being of the state and the region in general.
According to Diezani-Madueke, the airport had to be reopened before the conclusion of the repair works in order to ease the problem of the yuletide rush, adding that after the total repair works and putting in place of all the needed facilities, President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua would re-inaugurate it.
�By the first quarter of next year, we will put everything in place to make it functional; then we will finally open it. What we have done today is just to open it so that people can use the facility. We shall formally re-inaugurate the airport by the end of first quarter of next year,� she said.
The River State Governor, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, called on the Federal Government to consider running the airport under a private-public partnership to avoid the issue of paucity of fund.
He said he would not express disappointment at the pace of work on the airport though it did not go according to expectations and pledged the cooperation and assistance of the state in ensuring that the facility was back to use in due time.
�Kindly help us to put in place all the needed facilities so that any aircraft can land here like international flights. I have approached the Minister and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) so that we can approach the running of the airport from private-public sector partnership.
�I have asked this question, �can�t the airport be sold so that it will be efficiently run, so that we would not always be looking for money to repair the airport facilities?�,� Amaechi asked.
Earlier in his speech, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, noted that FAAN had worked round the clock to put smiles on the faces of people by repairing the airport.
He, however, pointed out that until the category II runway lighting was put in place, only day light operations would be carried out at the airport.
He assured the people of the state that FAAN was putting everything together to ensure that the best was given to users of the airport.
Dec252007