Friday 22 November 2013

KIA set for Sh75bn facelift, says govt

Arusha. Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) will undergo major rehabilitation that will cost 35 million Euros (Sh75billion), it emerged here during a visit to the facility by the minister for Transport, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe.
 The funds will be sourced from Orio Grant Facility of The Netherlands with Euro 15m being a grant and Euro 20m a loan to the government of Tanzania under concessionary terms.
The money would be used to rehabilitate the runway, apron, taxiways and the passengers’ terminal, according to Bakari Murusuri, a senior official of the Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (Kadco) which manages the airport.
 According to him, the rehabilitation programme is expected to commence in the middle of next year and will take about three years to be completed.
 “We are now in the development phase (of the project). The implementation phase begins in June, next year,” he told the minister.
 The official added that besides the civil works financed by The Netherlands organisation, the company recently carried major repairs of the passenger terminal building as well as the fire and rescue facility. A total of Sh346 million was spent.
 Mr Murusuri also informed the minister that the airport management has started drilling boreholes in the wake of shortage of piped water from the only major source at Losaa in Hai District.
 He added that Kadco was still facing problems over the invasion of its land by illegal settlers. KIA sits on 110 square kilometre land which has been earmarked for development under the Kia Integrated Master Plan.
 He said it was unfortunate that the government officials have done nothing to evict people who, according to him, have settled on the airport’s land, with some constructing permanent structures.

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