President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday appealed to the management of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to adhere strictly to the maintenance programme of equipment, machinery and facilities at their disposal to prolong their life-span.
He urged users of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to exercise the greatest care in the use of the equipment and the facilities, adding" the nation can only continue to be proud of the airport if our pride is translated into the everyday use and care of the facilities".
President Kufuor made the appeal when he unveiled a plaque to commission the second phase of the KIA rehabilitation project in Accra. The project estimated at about 103 million dollars included pavement works, terminal building works, navigational aids and electronic and telecommunication facilities, in line with government's Trade and Investment Gateway programme to transform the KIA into an aviation hub in the Sub-Region.
All the projects being financed with external sources and GCAA's own resources have been completed with the exception of the electronic and telecommunication facilities yet to begin.
The first phase of the project completed in 1993 at an estimated cost of 28 million pounds sterling from external sources and government component of three billion cedis, included rehabilitation of the runway, control tower and visual aids.
Others were the installation of new navigation aids, new power system for the airport and construction of a new freight terminal. President Kufuor asked the GCAA to ensure the infrastructure provided and the machinery installed operated properly and maintained to retain the Category One Status Ghana had attained under the US Federal Aviation Authority.
He said the security operations and features should also be adhered to rigorously, adding "the rate of efficiency of the services to which this modern and impressive infrastructure will be put, will decide if this port will indeed become the "gateway of the Sub-Region" to which the nation aspires".
Dr Richard Winfred Anane, Minister of Roads and Transport said the completion of the project marked another milestone in government's efforts to provide and improve upon the transport infrastructure opening the country for accelerated economic activity in support of the government's Golden Age of Business.
He said government's policy in the transport sector was to establish a modern efficient and sustainable transport network to integrate the different modes of transport and provide the travelling public a wider choice of quicker, safer and more reliable transportation.
The Minister announced that the Kumasi aerodrome and the Tamale airstrip would soon be upgraded to international levels. Nii Adu Masa Baddoo Acting Deputy Director General of the GCAA in-charge of Finance and Administration said the commissioning was a clear testimony of the authority's fulfilment of its mission to provide quality air service and to position Ghana as a trade and investment gateway to the Sub-Region.
He said the creation of an aviation-hub could be achieved when there was a strong, viable and efficient national carrier and therefore appealed to the management of the Ghana Airways to endeavour to demonstrate a strong commitment to help GCAA achieve its mission.
Mr Keith Abernethy, Commercial Manager of Skanska Africa, contractors on the project commended the workers and consultants for completing the work on scheduled.
He later presented a symbolic key on the project to Nii Baddoo to signify completion of the first part of the Phase II of KIA rehabilitation project. President Kufour later toured some parts of the rehabilitated project.
