Director-General calls for Aviation Fund

Accra (Greater Accra) 28 July '99

Wing Commander Andy Mensah, Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), has called for the establishment of an Aviation Fund to aid the development of the country's airports to promote the "Gateway Project", which seeks to attract investors.

He said part of the dividends paid to the government by the Aviation Authority could be put into such a fund to enable the GCAA to develop Kotoka International Airport and other regional airfields to increase the volume of traffic and attract investment.

This, he said, would enhance Ghana's quest to become a middle income country by the year 2020.

The Authority, last year, paid 1.7 billion cedis to the government as dividend.

Wing Commander Mensah was speaking during a familiarisation visit to the headquarters of GCAA in Accra by members of the Parliamentary Committee on Roads and Transport on Monday.

The visit was to afford the Committee the opportunity to know at first hand, the development programme of the GCAA to support the Gateway Project.

Mr Osei Ansah, Director of Projects, GCAA, briefing the Committee on the Authority's master plan for the development of Kotoka International Airport, said phase one of the programme from 1991 to 1993, covered the extension of the runway and the rehabilitation of the control tower and the power system.

Under phase two, the departure hall will be rehabilitated to accommodate more passengers, while the navigational and radar systems will be improved.

He said that with the increasing number of wide-bodied aircraft coming into the country, the Authority intends to construct a new apron to accommodate such planes. It will rewire the terminal building to prevent any fire outbreak and to extend the runway to Spintex end of the airport as part of efforts to promote the Gateway Project.

Mr Osei Ansah told the Committee that the projects under the phase two are estimated at about 74 million dollars, which will be borne by the Authority from its own resources.

He announced that the Authority has begun work on an "Airport City" project to develop a prime 40-acre piece of land in the forefront of the Airport into a miniature commercial and business complex as part of the Gateway Project.

The GCAA, he said, is providing infrastructure and utility services, including roads, walkways, drainage, electricity and water at the site, and in turn, sub-leasing the serviced plots to prospective investors to build a variety of commercial properties.