Saturday, November 19, 2011
Asaba International Airport: Bridging the divide between South-East, South-South
Written by Emmanuel Addeh
THE newly-built International Airport in Delta State is located in Asaba, the capital of the state. It is also the closest airport to Onitsha, the largest town in neighbouring Anambra State, and the economic hub of the South-East zone. Given the proximity of the airport to Onitsha and its economic importance, not a few have likened it to a second Niger bridge, linking the two states.
The former Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor chaired the foundation laying ceremony of the project in July 2008.
The airport was conceived to provide a stable and reliable means of air transport for investors, tourists, politicians as well as members of the public.
What started like a dream three years ago has now become a reality with the construction of the airport, except for a few patches. This brings the number of airports in the country to 22.
Many Deltans were sceptical at the outset of the project. As a result of the initial delay in its execution, they had wondered if the project was another white elephant. But the state government cleared all doubts when he said the delay was due to the need to update the facilities to enable it function as a cargo and passenger airport.
The airport, which is built on a vast expanse of land on the Benin-Asaba highway, was initially billed to gulp N14bn. The sum was scaled down to N7bn and eventually, the airport cost the state government N17.5bn to build. Although the project had received serious criticism from the opposition and with several individuals in the state insisting that there was no need for an airport when the people were hungry, the government maintained that it would boost employment and increase commercial activities in the South-East axis.
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan had to explain why the state government embarked on the construction of the airport. He said, “The people in Asaba had to travel to neighbouring states to travel by air and in the process, waste several man-hours on the road because of the simple fact that the Delta State capital did not have an airport.
“With the huge eastern market just across the River Niger, the project will be viable. Asaba has been suffering from the absence of an airport for a very long time. This will not be an abandoned project. Asaba is long overdue for an airport and we are determined to complete it no matter the cost.”
After an initial delay, the first non-commercial flight to the airport took place on Thursday, March 24, 2011 and its maiden commercial flight took place between July 13.
The airport, which comes with a three-kilometre runway, a modern terminal building and a car park for over 1,000 vehicles, Sights & Signs of Nigeria gathered, was handled by ULO Construction Company.
In spite of the existence of the Osubi airstrip in Warri (owned by a number of multinational oil companies), the government had noted that it was difficult for people in the state to travel by road to other states to board airplanes when they needed to move.
At the first commercial flight which had passengers from Abuja landing at exactly 12.17.pm in a 48-seater jet with registration number 5N-BND, belonging to Overland Airlines, the government noted that the project would quicken the economic development of the state.
Apart from those in the state, one other major beneficiary of the state-funded airport is Anambra State, which has Onitsha, its commercial capital, less than 15 minutes from the airport.
It was learnt that before the airport was built, people from the state embarked on a two-hour journey to Benin city to board an airplane.
Uduaghan had also defended the alleged delay of the completion of the project, saying that the trend all over the world was “ it was not easy to finish work in an airport in one swoop’’
While fielding questions from journalists in Asaba, the governor had noted that it took a long time to construct an airport.
He explained that even the best airports in the world still had “minor works going on either in form of renovation or addition of more facilities.”
The Democratic Peoples Party criticised Uduaghan over the delay in completing the airport. But last week, the party’s reaction drew the attention of a public affairs commentator, Mr Jesutega Onokpasa, who described it as mischievous.
Onokpasa said, “Which pilot could land a plane on an uncompleted airport? “How many dual carriage ways, water projects, hospital construction and airports were undertaken in the past?’’
Few weeks ago, the Delta State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency in Lagos to boost air traffic operations into the Airport.
Sights & Signs of Nigeria learnt that by the agreement, NAMA would deploy air traffic controllers and air traffic engineers to the airport for safety of flight operations, while the Delta State Government would provide other logistics needed to enhance smooth services.
The Special Project Director of the Airport, Austen Ayemidejor, who led the government delegation to NAMA’s head office in Lagos for the signing of the MoU, described the event as epochal.
He said, ‘‘The signing of the document today means that Asaba Airport is safe for landing and with this endorsement by NAMA, safety cannot be compromised.” Also, the Managing Director of NAMA, Engr Nnamdi Udoh, who presided over the meeting promised to strive in providing quality air traffic services to airlines operating into Asaba Airport.
Apart from the costing of the airport which the opposition said kept changing, there were also insinuations by the contractors that they had not been paid by the government. The incident happened when some suppliers of some equipment used in the airport held a public protest against ULO.
But Uduaghan denied the allegation that he was owing the contractor handling the construction of the multi-million naira Asaba Airport N10bn out of the N17.5bn earmarked for the project.
Over 30 sub-contractors had stormed the airport and temporarily disrupted activities as they barricaded the gate with their vehicles.
Uduaghan, who spoke through his Communication Manager, Mr. Paul Odili , had denied that the government was owing the contractor any money, insisting that the government had fully met financial obligation to the contracting firm.
Uduaghan might also have been reacting to this allegation last week when he said, “Some of these contractors do not follow due process. There are laid down procedures beforefunds are released to contractors and these procedures have to be followed’’.
The Minsiter of Aviation, Mrs stella Oduah had also expressed satisfaction with the high standard of facilities in the Asaba Airport, saying that they could be compared to some of the “best” in the world.
Oduah said the airport met global specifications and standard. She said: “I am very excited over this airport. It is very wonderful and has met global standard.”
But as the airport commences full flight operations, it is hoped that rough edges would be smoothened and regular maintenance carried out to avoid the decay in some of the airports in the country.
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