Aviation Workers Justify Stand On P/Harcourt Airport Concession

Aviation workers under the auspices of the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) have resolved to write to the National Assembly to explain the reasons behind their refusal to accept the planned concession of the Port Harcourt International Airport.

ANAP chapter chairman at the airport, Comrade Akagha Emmanuel, disclosed this in a chat with LEADERSHIP Weekend after this association’s meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital yesterday.

Akagha stated that through the letter, the aviation workers would let the National Assembly know that the current management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the airport would generate more revenue than the one proposed by the concessionaire.

“We are going to write to the National Assembly to tell them that the current management can manage the Port Harcourt International Airport themselves and even give more than that N2.5billion annually.
“They can generate N4.5billion or N5billion annually from internally generated revenue, which differs from the N2.1billion that the concessionaire is proposing to give to the federal government,” he said.

He said the union also wants the lawmakers to look into contractors that have over-bloated contracts from FAAN headquarters and consider renegotiating such contracts with the local airport.

The ANAP chairman said: “We also want to look into contractors that have over-bloated contracts from FAAN headquarters. Those contracts can be renegotiated from the airport here and brought down because in certain points that doesn’t require too many people and they will there to be recieving peanuts that are not up to minimum wage.

“Yet, the contractors are collecting huge amounts of money; from N2 million and all that monthly., which when they bring allocation to the airport, they pay the contractors first before paying every other salary.

So, that was what we agreed.

“Also, the service facilities that are in this airport that are not generating anything, especially, the cargo facility that is not operating, the have more than three to four contractors handling it and that are not paid not less than N2 million to N3 million monthly.

“We want the world to hear; if government wants to concession the Port Harcourt International Airport, they should come with current reality that is obvious,” he added.