Tamale airport drawings ready

THE architectural drawings on the upgrade  of the Tamale Airport into an international flight has been completed.

According to the Deputy Minister of Transport, Ms Dzifa Attivor, government was sourcing for funds to undertake the project.
She told the Daily Graphic that the facility, which had been designed to contain a Hajj village, runway and terminal, would be constructed at the cost of $150 million.

“The project will also contain  facilities to store pineapple from the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), project, ” she said.

Ms Attivor stated that the airport, beyond providing a respite for Hajj pilgrims to directly fly from the Northern part of the country to their destinations, when completed, would also operate as a hub for sub regional flights.

“The idea is also to ease pressure and congestion at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) due to the increasing number of international flights and passengers would ease marginally,” Ms Attivor stated.

 The deputy minister further stressed that government’s decision to ensure the project became a reality formed part of a strategy to decentralise certain important facilities especially in Accra.

She was of the hope that the heavy traffic associated with the KIA, which had seen major airlines flying into the country and diverting to other neighbouring countries, would become a thing of the past, as Ghana would be able to accommodate more airlines.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic,  Mon April 18, 2012