Ugwuanyi moves to rehabilitate Enugu international airport

GOVERNOR Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has begun moves to rehabilitate the Akanu-Ibiam International airport, Enugu to speed up its expansion.

To this, Ugwuanyi on Monday, said he would constitute a stakeholders’ committee that would resolve all issues around the expansion of the airport.

Speaking through the State Commissioner for Information, Ogbuagu Anikwe, the governor said the committee would comprise officials of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority.

Others are the State Ministries of Lands & Infrastructure, Commerce & Industry, and the management of the ENPOWER Free Trade Zone.

While noting the importance of the International Airport to the people of the South East geo-political zone, he reiterated the state government commitment to continue to support “every effort required to be made in order to get it functioning at optimum capacity and efficiency.”

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He explained that the stakeholders would have to unravel what appeared to be a disagreement among federal authorities operating in Enugu State regarding ownership of vast hectares of land that the state government has so far approved around the airport for their use.

“If at the end of the meeting, it is established that any of the parties still needed more land, especially for the airport project, the Enugu State government will promptly attend to this need.

“At the moment, it is important to emphasize that Enugu State has donated vast tracts of land for the airport expansion project and is also working to relocate further identified encumbrances such as a local market, in order to encourage the federal authorities to speedily complete the project.”