The Tamale International airport phase two project is substantially completed and presently at the Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer Stage or in other words the test run stage.
This was disclosed by the Project Manager of Ecobuild Consult, Rev Allan Okomeng on Monday, October 10, 2022, when Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport visited the 70 million dollar facility for an inspection ahead of its handing over.
The outstanding works are the documentation of the operators’ manuals, as built drawings and some finishing touches which is about 0.07 per cent of the work.
“Obviously, as a project manager, I tell you that no project is completed, because – that is why I used cautiously, substantially; they are still doing a few small things; what we call rectifying some of the slabs that we have seal through the airport and then documentations of the operators’ manuals and as built drawings and all that” Rev Allan Okomeng explained.
The committee members toured the main terminal building as well as the multi-purpose facility also known as the Hajj village to ascertain the quality of work done by the contractor and to ensure there is value for money.
In an interview, the Deputy Minister for Transport, Hon Alhassan Tampuli who doubles as Member of Parliament for Gushegu told THE CUSTODIAN the project is a game changer as far as the aviation sector in the northern region is concerned.
“To start with, we have the longest runway in Ghana, no matter the size of the aircraft, A380 can land and even the Antonov can land here. The whole idea is to make this place a cargo hub mostly for agricultural produce and I believe with the completion of the terminal and then the multipurpose terminal a.k.a the Hajj village; soon enough, we would move civilian operations from the existing terminal to the new terminal” he said.
Phase three
The construction of the phase three will include the expansion of the main terminal building by 18 meters from both sides to cover a land size of about 12,000 meters square, expansion of the apron by 200 meters among other critical infrastructure components necessary for the operations of an international airport.
The Committee Chairman, Hon Kennedy Nyarko Osei, in his remarks said it is reasonable and cost efficient for the government to engage the contractor whilst they still have their full equipment on site to begin work on the phase three, stressing this would reduce the burden of cost on the Ghanaian taxpayer in the near future.
He maintained this would ensure the purpose and full economic gains expected as a result of the construction of the airport to meet international status are realized.
He therefore advised the government despite the global economic challenges to swiftly source funding for the construction works to commence.
But in his response, the Deputy Minister stated the Ministry has also been working on that because it is much more efficient and cheaper as far as the Ministry is concerned.
“Like the Chairman of the committee rightly pointed out if we demobilized the contractor from site and then we have to get them to comeback, it’s going to be expensive because they probably would’ve disposed some of their machinery and equipment and now they would’ve go and procure equipment again and that would take another time but since they’re still on site, it should be possible for us to engagement now that they are done with this one” Mr. Tampuli asserted.
