Airport remodelling projects will not be abandoned

The Federal Government has said that none of the ongoing airport remodelling projects will be abandoned.

The Supervising Minister of Aviation, Dr. Samuel Ortom, said this at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Monday shortly after inspecting the level of work at the airport.

He, however, added that the Federal Government would not embark on any new project in the aviation industry until the ongoing ones were completed in the two years as agreed in the contracts.

There have been speculations that the ministry will abandon some of the ongoing projects scattered across airports in the country, on which about N174bn has been expended.

While explaining that some projects were initially suspended due to lack of funds, Ortom said contractors had now resumed work after President Goodluck Jonathan had signed the 2014 budget into law.

He said, “I want to assure Nigerians that the projects will be completed. The projects are part of the aviation master plan dully approved by the Federal Executive Council. Every single project that was started in the phases one, two and three of the remodelling plan will be completed.

“We will generate enough revenue in addition to the Federal Government funding to execute the projects. I want to allay the fears of Nigerians that the projects won’t be completed. The debts and commitments are there, but you can see the massive work going on in the aviation industry today. That justifies the N174bn debt.

“But we intend not to embark on new projects so that we can concentrate our energies and ensure we complete the projects started by my predecessor.”

Ortom stated that the ministry would prioritise the projects and that some of them were about 70 to 80 per cent completed.

“We have to prioritise our work here; we have been operating with Internal Generated Revenue and we will continue to operate with it. We have done a lot. During the cause of this inspection, we have identified some works we have to tidy up,” he said.

Ortom also directed the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Saleh Dunoma, to terminate the contract for the cleaning of the terminal if the contractor failed to improve on the level of work.