‘We don’t have to close airport,’ Julius Berger tells Senate

monjola sotubo

January 17, 2017 4:07 PM

The Federal Government plans to shut down the Abuja airport for six weeks to enable it repair the runway.

The Nigerian Senate

The Managing Director of Julius Berger, Wolfgang Goetsch has said that the Abuja airport

The Federal Government plans to shut down the airport for six weeks to enable it repair the runway.

Goetsch made the revelation on Tuesday, January 17, while appearing before the Senate.

“It can be shut down in the night. The spot can be repaired in the morning and temporarily given back for usage. But the state of the runway in Abuja, extent of damage and deterioration. The whole runway from one end to the other end is damaged,” he said.

“This means that if the method of spot repair is loose, you start from one side of the runway, lock it in the night and in the morning to open it up for traffic. There is absolutely no option than to close the runway for these six weeks because it is not a repair work. It is a new construction of the whole surface of the building.

“On our end, we guarantee that within the 6 weeks, the repair work is done. This is subject to the fulfillment of the obligation of all stakeholders. Under the leadership of the Minister of State for Aviation, all stakeholders are on board. Everything is going on very smoothly according to plan and there is no doubt that the obligation of all stakeholders is fulfilled,” he added.

The Senate had earlier rejected plans to close the airport and summoned Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika who said that there was no other option.

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The Abuja airport will be shut on March 8 and flights will be diverted to the Kaduna airport.

monjola sotubo