Rivers State government has ordered uninterrupted power supply to Port Harcourt International Airport from its gas turbine station and also urged the Federal Government to grant it the powers to run the airport.
Governor Chibuike Amaechi said he gave the order against the backdrop of request by the Regional Manager of the airport, Mr. Uche Nwanguma, to come to his rescue with regards to power supply to the airport.
He directed the secretary to the state government (SSG) to ensure that power was restored to the airport from the station as soon as possible because of the threatening nature of lack of power at the airport.
Governor Amaechi said he made the request to take over the airport as a result of the neglect of the airport by the Federal Government, said he was deeply worried by the sad situation of the place.
Amaechi, who spoke when the new Regional Manager of the Port Harcourt International Airport, Mr. Uche Nwanguma, paid him a courtesy call at Government House, Port Harcourt, said “we have already applied to the Federal Government for a concession to run the airport, and when granted, the state government would demolish all the dilapidated structures and renovate other structures at the airport to make the establishment compete favourably with its contemporaries”.
He stated that the state government has assisted the airport severally and wondered why the federal authorities would abandon her responsibility by neglecting an airport as strategic as the Port Harcourt International Airport .
He said the state government even granted the federal establishment a loan of N2 billion in 2006 for the reconstruction of the runway, but noted that the loan has not been applied or refunded to the state, and urged the federal government to live up to its responsibilities.
The governor, however, expressed the readiness of the state to partner with the federal government towards the development of the airport which serves the entire South-South and South-East regions. The governor described airports the world over as a money-making business outfit that, if properly managed, could generate enough funds.
Earlier, the new Regional Manager, Port Harcourt International Airport , Omagwa, Mr Uche Nwanguma, said he was on the visit to request the kind support of the state government, especially in the provision of power supply and 10 drums of 11KVA. high tension cables to enable the airport authority replace the obsolete power lines in the airport.
He also thanked the government for its assistance to the place.