FG Provides Free Bus For Kaduna-Abuja Air Passengers
By Oladapo Okeowo with agency report
As part of measures to ease the transition from the Abuja airport to the Kaduna International Airport, the FG has announced the provision of buses to take passengers to and from Kaduna to Abuja.
This measure is one of many announced at world press conference attended by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika; a representative of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing; as well as the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.
Other measures put in place are adequate security to be provided by the Police air wing, counter-terrorism and special units; completion of the Kaduna-Abuja road to allow for easy motoring and also free train services for those who would prefer to journey by rail.
The measures are predicated on the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja for the next six weeks. The closure is to enable the FG to reconstruct the runway and also carry outr general renovations of the airport.
According to the minister of Information, the runway had fallen to disrepair due to lack of renovation in over 2 decades. He said the maintenance schedule which states the time when a change or renovation is needed was not adhered to in the case of the Abuja airport.
“In the case of the Abuja Airport, for 34 years neither surface cleaning has been done nor resurfacing and it has deteriorated, so what we are doing is total reconstruction and there is no other alternative than to close the runway”.
For his part, the Minister of State for Aviation said adequate logistical arrangements have been made for the comfort and safety of all passengers
He said both the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and the National Society of Engineers (NSE) have agreed with the government that the integrity of the Abuja Airport runway has been degraded and that the only way to ensure safety on the runway is a total reconstruction.
Sirika said the renovation would be carried out on all airports which are due for one. A heads up for airlines and air passengers.
He said the renovations, due to the capital layout, would be concessioned to private firms.
“We are concessioning the entire airports in Nigeria that belong to government.
“We will begin by concessioning four. Concession means we will give it to a private entrepreneur who has the wherewithal, the know-how, the technology, the capacity, the ability, the finance to put up huge fantastic edifices as airports with everything including hotels, just the way you see them abroad,”he said.
