Katsina airport: FG orders contractors to begin work

Contractors who are working on projects at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Airport in Katsina State have been ordered to relocate to the airport’s location by the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace. This comes after the government of Katsina State completed its plans to pay compensation to landowners.

This information was shared by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Emmanuel Meribole, while he was meeting with the Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, in Abuja.

According to Meribole, matters relating to compensation and the separation of military and civilian land are currently being worked out.

Meribole, who spoke through the Head of Press and Public Affairs of the ministry, Odutayo Oluseyi, issued a statement in which he said, “There are eight projects at the airport, some of which include: the expansion of the existing airport APRON, fire truck building, new terminal, cargo terminal and fire truck maintenance and refurbishment.”

He lauded the efforts of the state government and the federal government to work together in order to get the Katsina airport expansion projects off the ground.

He made the observation that the efforts being made by the government to solve the problems that were preventing work from beginning after the groundbreaking ceremony that had taken place a few months prior were yielding positive results, and he noted that these results were encouraging.

He stated that discussions on the issue of land secession had taken place between the Chief of Air Staff and the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace.

On the other hand, he made a request to the governor, asking that further discussions regarding the issue be strengthened with the Chief of Air Staff.

In his response, the governor of Katsina State expressed his gratitude to Senator Hadi Sirika, who had served as Minister of Aviation under the previous administration, for locating the projects in Kastina.

He stated that authorization had been granted for the payment of land compensation to all of the landowners in order to facilitate the successful completion of the projects.

Radda urged the contractors to move to the site as soon as possible and assured them that he would not let up in his efforts until the projects were successfully finished.