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Compensation to hangar owners may gulp over N5 billion
The National Assembly has advised against the planned demolition of private hangars obstructing some of the boarding fingers at the new terminal of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, (MMIA) Lagos.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly has asked the Managing Director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Capt. Rabiu Yadudu to submit the cost of demolition and compensation due to the owners of the hangars to the two committees for consideration before going ahead to demolish them.
Many of the hangars including a government agency, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) risk demolition to pave way for expansion of the fingers and avio-bridges for the new terminal which is expected to open in March 2022 nine years after construction work started by a Chinese firm.
Some of the hangars that are at the risk of demolition are Dominion and Evergreen Apples Nigeria (EAN), private terminals dedicated to business aviation. a private terminal dedicated to business aviation.
Stakeholders who spoke to Aviation Metric said the agency and by extension, the Federal Government could spend over N5b in compensation to the owners of the property; a huge amount of money the lawmakers felt could be avoided.
An airline operator who preferred anonymity said the cost could rise to N10b considering the huge equipment and investment made on the facilities over several years, adding that it would become inevitable to pull the structures down if they hamper the operation of the terminal he said had taken too long to complete.
Chairmen Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Aviation, Smart Adeyemi and Nnolim Nnaji regretted that the obstruction was not taken note of during the initial construction of the new terminal noting that rather than spend billions of taxpayers’ money on compensation, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) could restrict the use of the affected fingers to narrow-body aircraft and deploy the money that would go for compensation to the owners of the facilities to the building of additional terminal”.
Adeyemi, speaking in support of the House Committee Chairman’s position urged the Managing Director of FAAN to do everything to ensure that the owners do not lose their investments.
“We are the representatives of the people and we must be sure that the resources of the country are not unduly wasted. We must weigh the options and if the amount to be paid out as compensation does not make sound economic judgment we will not allow it.” Adeyemi further stated.
He equally stated that the commissioning of the new terminal was long overdue considering that it was built with borrowed funds and that Lagos airport generates over 60 percent of the authority’s total revenue earnings.
Nnaji implored the management of the authority to ensure that the new terminal is commissioned as soon as possible to ease off congestion at the airport.
Just last week, the FAAN helmsman assured that the newly built terminal by the Chinese from Chinese loan at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, and whose contract is being executed by the Chinese Construction Company, China Civil Engineering Construction Company, CCECC, will be commissioned by March 2022.
According to Yadudu, the new terminal construction at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, MMIA, had reached 98 percent completion.
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