By IBRAHIM KANOMA
The Zamfara Cargo airport beginning operations in the next few months, as expressed by Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle, may have been stalled.
This targeted period of take off is now looking unrealistic due to some obstacles against the smooth running of the construction project, The DEFENDER can authoritatively report.
On the spot assessment of the site by journalists working in the state indicated that the level of progress was far from encouraging, while the project is partially not being done at the expected speed.
Enquiries by some of the journalists revealed that the project was currently suffering setback due to lack of funds.
The Zamfara State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Hon. Ahmed Muktar Muhammad, who is the supervising Commissioner, in an interview with pressmen in Gusau, however, did not see fund as only issue as he said the progress of the project was seriously marred by some other obstacles.
He said part of the major challenges is the lingering insecurity threat coupled with this year’s heavy rain down pour, both of which slowed down progress of the construction.
Ahmad further explained that there was also an official obstacle as according to him, “the construction project could not continue without approval on the construction architectural design by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as submitted by the construction consultants.”
He disclosed that already, major parts of the basic requirements had already been achieved such as complete payment of land compensation to owners, completion of the airport runway, and more importantly the payment of over N100 million for the issuance of certificate of clearance for the continuation of the construction project.
Ahmad explained that construction of an airport, particularly Cargo airport, is not only time consuming, but also a huge capital intensive project requiring huge fund.
He said his experience from visits to some conventional airports in some states indicated to him that there was need for a careful cost review of the Cargo airport.
The Commissioner said that, as against the initial cost projections of N10 billion earmarked for the project, the upward review may jack up to N20 billion, considering the increasing costs of building materials at the moment.
He said Governor Bello Matawalle has prioritized the provision of Cargo airport as his pet project and is committing a lot of resources to ensure that the project becomes a reality.
