MONROVIA – The Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel McGill, has said that President George Weah is concerned about the current state of the Roberts International Airport (RIA) and efforts are being exerted to address the situation.
The RIA, headed by its Acting Managing Director Martin Hayes, has been faced with serious operational constraints, making it difficult for the airport to be lighted during the night hours.
As part of immediate priorities, Minister McGill stated that a special cabinet team would work with the airport authorities to make swift interventions.
He named some of the prompt interventions as the working of the air navigation system which has not been changed for over 25 years, the improvement of stable electricity including another source of power, a solar system as well as the increase in fire system equipment among others.
“The RIA Management has been working on it already but we will work with them now to accelerate the process due to the importance, the President attaches to the issue”, he added.
Speaking about the apron at the RIA, he disclosed that the apron unfortunately was never a priority when the construction of the airport was done.
Moreover, he emphasized that the jet bridge is, unfortunately, sitting on the apron which is now sinking.
According to him, the government is looking at a workable and holistic approach to the issue and will not shift blames on anyone.
“A lot of people up to press time believe that $USD 55M was spent on the airport and the reality is that the system has been broken down with the exit of the Chinese after the expiration of their two years contract.”
However, he pointed out that as part of the government’s new plans, they will sign a new contract with the Chinese to ensure that they help train Liberians for the process.
Minister McGill put the cost of the project at around 22 to 23 million within a period of six to seven months, especially with the involvement of the legislature.
For his part, Finance Minister Samuel Tweah said the airport ran on generators for about 15 years, which he said is unacceptable in this 21st century.
He said the government is committed to addressing the problem which he said would set yet another unprecedented record for the Liberian leader. “We are now under obligation to look for money where we did not even budget for it especially when resources are scarce,” Minister Tweah said.
Commenting on the security situation at the airport, Justice Minister Cllr. Frank Musa Dean urged Liberians not to panic as the joint security has put in place the necessary measures to avert any security threat.
Providing some technical information about the issue, the Board Chair of RIA, Musa Shannon, disclosed that recent the issue at the airport has now been addressed.
Most of the issues at the RIA surround power outage and at the moment, it has been taken care of, Shannon added.
“The airport is everybody’s business and it is in good hands”, he assured the public.