The Ebonyi State government revealed on Tuesday that it has given the green light for a budget of over ₦13 billion to be allocated for the immediate repair of the Chuba Okadigbo’s International Airport runway located in Onueke, Ezza South Local Government Area.
The Chuba Okadigbo airport runway, as reported by The Eastern Updates, is presently undergoing rehabilitation, just a scant three months after it was originally constructed and officially opened by former Governor David Umahi.
The Commissioner of Aviation and Transport Technology, Mrs. Ngozi Obichukwu, shared this update with journalists at the airport, immediately following the official transfer of the runway site to the contractor.
According to Obichukwu, the Infrastructure Development Company (IDC) has been awarded the contract for runway rehabilitation, and they project that the project will take no more than eight months to be finished.
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She said: ‘The contractor has fulfilled the procurement requirements that we gave them, at the biding opening, assessment and evaluation.’
‘The IDC construction company has today meet up with our requirements on the runway design. They will start work next week and the job is expected to be completed in the six to eight months, so that the full flight operations will start.’
She further mentioned that the state government, under the leadership of Governor Francis Nwifuru, has provided the contractor with a fifty percent mobilisation to ensure a prompt start to the work at the runway site.
In his reply, Engr. Youssef Zghib, the Area Manager of IDC Construction Company, elaborated on their plan to scrape off half of the existing concrete on the airport runway, aiming to achieve a cohesive blend with the asphalt surface.
‘The only reason why the flight could not land here is because of the rigidity of the concrete and once the 150mm of combined asphalt is layed, there will be no other excuse for an airline not to land here’ he stated.
