The Governor of Cross River State in southern Nigeria, Senator Bassey Otu has inspected the proposed Obudu Cargo Airport located in the northern Senatorial district.
Governor Otu, who was taken round the construction site by the contractor handling the project, was pleased with the extent of work done and promised to ensure its completion.
A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbeche indicated that the governor would initiate a project to compliment the already existing Bebi airstrip and the cargo airport when completed.
According to the statement, the governor said: “I am very impressed at the quality and the level of work done here. I think the airport is actually ready to go. As we can see, everything is on ground. It is only left with the tarmac, which is at its completion stage.
“The contractors, who have been working with regulatory officials from the aviation agencies have assured me that if the necessary support is provided this place will be running within six months.
“For us, this project is very important because we want this area to start generating wealth for Cross River State. We have the ranch, which has been there for decades and it is time to make it work again. This airport is the main facility that will effectively ensure mobility and traffic to the ranch,” Otu stated.
Standard Airport
Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of CIBA Construction Company Limited, Mr Josiah Samuel, who is the contractor handling cargo airport, expressed optimism that given the necessary support, the work could be completed in record time.
Samuel noted, “from what you can see, a lot has gone in here. I have assured the governor that with adequate support from the government within six months this airport, which is of international standard, will be operational.
“The runway is over three kilometres comparable to any other international airport for passenger or cargo in Nigeria. The Control Tower is ready, all navigational equipment are in place. For the runway, where we are standing now is the binders course of 60 metres and on top of this, we are to add another 70 metres of wearing course for maximum thickness.
“You have airports with 2 kilometer runways, but this is 3.2 kilometres in addition to the skipping area. All together we have over 5 kilometres. What we have here is comparable to any other international cargo/passenger airport in the world,” he assured.
Confidence Okwuchi
