*Project in line with my promise to boost transport sector – Buhari
President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, described the new International Terminal at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, as a landmark, saying it is in line with his promise of revamping Nigeria’s transport sector.
Buhari, before commissioning the new projects, also commended the people of the South-South geopolitical zone and airport users for their patience while the execution of the project lasted.
He said: “Recall that after opening the major airport terminals in the country in the late 70s and early 80s, not much was added to increase passenger handling capacity of these facilities by successive administrations.
“Following the large increase in national population with the consequent surge in air passenger traffic, the capacity of the airport terminals became inadequate to cater for the increase in passenger traffic.
“Though palliatives were periodically carried out, the facilities were fast giving in to wear and tear. It, therefore, became necessary to take decisive action to ensure our terminals meet minimum international standards for the traveling public.
“As part of the infrastructure renewal programme, construction of four new international terminals at Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kano airports was embarked upon by the Federal Government with a view to modernising the aging airport infrastructure and improve service delivery in tandem with best international practices.
“At the presentation of the 2017 Budget to the National Assembly, I promised to upgrade and develop Nigeria’s transport, power, and health infrastructure, and complete a number of stalled infrastructure projects.
“These include construction of new terminals at the country’s five major airports, numerous major road projects, key power transmission projects, and the completion of the Kaduna – Abuja as well as Itakpe to Warri Railway lines.
“Nigeria having an advantageous central location within the sub-region and our desire to develop into a regional air transportation hub must upgrade its facilities to take advantage of its assets. The recent decision by the Federal Government to remove Value Added Tax from domestic air transportation is in line with global best practices.”
Projects: Rivers people are happy with you, Governor Wike tells Buhari
In his remarks on the occasion, the host governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, said: “Today, the people of Rivers State and people of the Niger Delta are happy seeing this. What you are doing will boost the economy of the state, and create employment for people. It would bring investors to this state.
“Mr. President has directed that the domestic wing of the airport be commissioned in December. I hope my friend (Hadi Sirika) will keep to it so that the people of Rivers and Niger Delta will continue to be happy with President Buhari.
“Mr. President what has happened today is a clear statement to the fact that Rivers State is safe, secure for people to come and invest. If the state were not safe CCECC would not have come to complete this project.’’
On his part, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen Hadi Sirika said, the project along with three others in Lagos, Abuja and Kano commenced in February 2014, with funding through China Exim Bank loan of $500Million with another $100Million counterpart fund from the government of Nigeria.
He said: “Mr President graciously approved $461Million to be sourced from same China Exim Bank, to complete all of the projects. However, this is requiring further $69.15Million as counterpart funding.
“If we are able to source this fund and counterpart funding, we should be able to deliver the remaining projects which are Kano, Lagos, and Abuja very soon because they are all in various stages of completion.’’
