BY PROSPER MAKENE
The government has assured the public that construction of Terminal Three complex for passengers at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) will be completed in November this year and not otherwise.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian on Wednesday, Deputy minister for Transport Dr Charles Tizeba said so far there are no constraints facing the constructions of Terminal Three of the JNIA, adding that work will be completed this year as planned.
Dr Tizeba also said that the contractors are now making ground installations - fitting fuel pipes because aircraft will be filing fuel at the airport, before they go to construction of pathways.
“Nothing will let down the completion of construction of Julius Nyerere International Airport come November, 2015, everything is in order, we have enough funds and the contractor is eager to finish the project on time. We want to assure the public that we will finish construction of JNIA terminal three as agreed,” he said
The Deputy Minister pointed out that if there is heavy traffic at Julius Nyerere International Airport’s Terminal Two, the government might commence using Terminal Three even before it is officially launched.
“Due to higher traffic jam at Jomo Kenyata International Airport, Kenyans agreed to use Terminal Three before its official launch, and we will also do the same if we find that there is heavy traffic at Terminal Two,” he said.
However, speaking after laying the stone for construction of Terminal Three at the JNIA in April last year (2014), President Jakaya Kikwete said once completed the terminal will raise the airport’s passenger handling capacity to six million per year.
The President said apart from increased passengers, more airlines will use the airport, thus boosting business and the country’s economy.
Eng Suleiman Suleiman, Director General of Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA), said that construction of the terminal will cost 518bn/-.
He said the project is implemented with financial support from the government of the United Kingdom, a HSBC bank loan guaranteed by the Netherlands government on its Atradius Institute and the CRDB Bank.
The TAA boss pointed out that the building will cover 70,000 square metres compared to Terminal Two which covers 15,000 square metres.
Construction of the building started early last year after completion of preliminary procedures and will be completed in November this year.
JNIA which was initially designed in 1984 to accommodate only 1.5 million passengers annually (then considered huge number) but now, twenty years later the airport reports to receive 2.1 million passengers annually.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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