China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has fixed February 2018 as possible date of completion and delivery of the $200 million terminal building at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The project manager, Kelvin Lee gave the assurance in Abuja when the national assembly joint committee on aviation embarked on an oversight tour of facilities at the airport.
However, he said unless there is upgrade of the existing power and water supply systems the February date for completion and commissioning of the project will not be feasible.
He said without upgrade of the existing power and water supply capacity, the facility would not be functional.
Lee said it would be of no value to complete a terminal of such magnitude without the requisite power and water supply.
He urged government to facilitate funding to accelerate the provision of support equipment that would enable the company complete the work on time.
Lee said the company was working within its scope to complete the terminal, but will require government to relocate the control tower and fire station which currently are obstacles to some sections of the new terminal.
Speaking later in an interview, the chairman, senate committee on aviation, Mr. Adamu Aliero said the lawmakers were impressed with the level of work done so far and urged CCECC to ensure all that is required is fixed before the facility is put to use.
He said the committee was working with the ministry of aviation on ways to secure funds to ensure the terminal is delivered with all equipment in place.
“The ministry of aviation is already aware of the power and water challenge and I think that they are doing something about it.
“And once they bring it to the notice of the legislature we will do the needful and give necessary support because we need this terminal to be put to use immediately after completion.
“There is no point having a terminal without water and electricity to enable it function properly. The existing power and water supply is not adequate to accommodate the terminal without expansion or upgrade,” he said.
On the completion of the terminal, Aliero said: “The terminal would be completed and commissioned before the end of next year. It is already eighty per cent completed. What is left to be done is just the finishing and the equipment are already on ground. The project manager said the control tower and fire station need to be relocated. If the fire station and control tower are relocated, maybe we would commission the facility earlier than the end of next year.”
He also said there will be no going back on the construction of a second runway at the airport because of the increasing passenger traffic and capacity.
“We are going to have a second runway, because of capacity. We reached this conclusion from the things we have seen.
“Abuja being the federal capital territory deserves a second runway with the attendant passenger inflow and number of flights coming into the airport.
“We do not need a situation where we have to wait to move to Kaduna again with the horrendous experience before building a second runway.
“This is why the National Assembly has approved the construction of second runway for Abuja and luckily the ministry is working to ensure that the procurement and award of contract is done before the end of this year and if it is awarded there would be enough funding for next year.”
Part of the sections of Abuja Airport toured by the committee include Wing D , section of the terminal, the resurfaced runway, the new international terminal under construction, the flight decoding laboratory of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and proposed headquarters of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).