The Federal Government has deployed contractors in the Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lagos airports to fix some of the infrastructural problems at the facilities.
Some of the infrastructural issues being fixed, according to the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, include the dilapidated runways, terminal buildings as well as taxiways.
Sirika, who spoke in Abuja on Monday, stated that funds were now available for the repair of the bad portions of the runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the Federal Capital Territory, adding that the facility would be fixed as quickly as possible.
He said, “Contractors are back on site in Port Harcourt to finish the terminal building, especially the arrival side. Also, our contractors are back on the Enugu runway and the central taxiway in Lagos.
“Significant too is that the Abuja runway is being attended to. The contractor will be mobilised to site shortly within this week or next.”
The minister further stated that a few years ago, Nigeria embarked on a turnkey project for the provision of a new aeronautical telecommunication network to automate its aeronautical information management system.
The project was to develop a communication backbone with a network of 26 VSATs at all the airports, and at the headquarters of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency and the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency for search and rescue coordination.
Sirika stated that the project had delivered a central aeronautical database that was currently being populated with data that would enhance seamless integration with other states or regional databases.
According to him, the project is scheduled for completion in 11 locations by next month, while the remaining 15 locations will be completed in 2017.
“Similarly, approval has been granted for the software and hardware upgrade and maintenance of the current total radar coverage of Nigeria to make the system more efficient and inter-operational with other systems,” the minister added.
