Tamale Airport project to be completed in December
The first phase of rehabilitation and upgrading of the Tamale Airport to an international airport will be completed in December, this year, three months after its scheduled completion date of September.
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The delay is due to the discovery of clayey soil by the contractors, which required a considerable amount of time to excavate for work to continue.
Madam Dzifa Aku Ativor, Minister of Transport, disclosed this to the media when she paid a working visit to the Tamale Airport with the management of the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) and some other players in the sector this week.
President John Dramani Mahama, last September cut the sod for the construction of the Phase One of the upgrading and expansion of the Tamale Airport into an international one.
Tamale Airport project
The project is being undertaken by Queiroz Galvao, a Brazilian company; the same company that is working on the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange with funding from the Brazilian government.
The completion of the airport will reduce the cost and hardship travellers, especially pilgrims in the region go through
Madam Ativor said the first phase included the extension of the runway from the current 2,500 metres to 3,400 metres to enable bigger aircrafts to land safely.
“A complete lighting system will also be provided at the end of phase one to enable night operations as well as to give pilots a clearer view in the evening,” she added.
“The rehabilitation project also forms part of government’s plans to reduce the cost and hardship Muslims in the country go through during the annual hajj pilgrimage as well as reduce tension on the Kotoka International Airport,” she stated.
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The airport will attract more revenue for the region.
She reiterated that even though work had been delayed, the contractors were delivering quality service and that is government was not going to pay any additional cost to the contractors.
Madam Ativor said the completion of the upgrading and expansion project would also help to implement the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) project which is aimed at producing and exporting perishable goods.
Project manager
The Project Manager for Queiroz Galvao, Mr Reubens Claudio, told the Daily Graphic that the company was dedicated to delivering quality service to the people, adding that the first phase would have been completed by the scheduled time if they had not discovered the clay.
Mr Claudio assured the minister of the completion of the Phase One in December since all the technical hitches.
The Managing Director for the GACL, Mr Charles Kwame Asare, urged the contractor to speed up work to be able to meet the new deadline.