Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja
Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika yesterday said the new Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport terminal would cost additional $400million to be completed.
Sirika who disclosed this while inspecting the new terminal expressed regretted that government was unable to keep to the promise to deliver the project by December 2017. He attributed the delay to some challenges as regards additional work that will ensure that the terminal can be used as intended.
The minister said: "Unfortunately some of the components are very complex. They will delay the job. Some of them are from the foundation problems. A classical examples is the problem of linking the old terminal to the new building.”
According to him, the project was implemented through a $500million loan from China and Nigeria is giving a counterpart funding of $100million, making it $600million. "For us to get to the end of this project, it would take an excess of $400million.”
Sirika said the government would have to think of how to utilize the airport despite its shortcomings. He noted that it would take huge amount of money to provide sewer, water, electricity, extra aprons, move the control tower, provide fire service and link the old airport to the new one.”
He recalled that during the procurement processes when construction commenced, there was problem with the foundation. “Most of the inadequacies are not small work to be done but the intent of government is to speed up the work so the facility can be utilized very soon. Sirika said the master plan of the airport was a modular style to progress with increase in passenger traffic but the procurement had distorted it.
The minister said the contractor had assured him that by March 2018, they would make some parts of the airport to be functional.The representative of the China Civil Engineering Construction Company said the project was 87percent completed.
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