The National Democratic Congress in the Volta Region is calling on Government to as a matter of urgency commission the Ho airport to bring development to the region.
The $25 million Ho airport project, which has been completed since 2018, has a 1,900-metre runway, a traffic control tower, a 1,150 capacity passenger waiting area, an ultramodern airbus terminal, and an automatic fire detection and control system.
Mr. James Gunu, the Volta Regional Secretary of the NDC, in a Citi News interview called on the government to immediately commission the airport to bring development to the region.
He further urged the government to possibly name the airport after former President Jerry John Rawlings.
“This edifice should be inaugurated immediately and named after former President Rawlings. The government must do that under a certificate of urgency because if you look at the economic benefit, the economic potential that this development brings to the region is unprecedented and it will open up the entire region and bring about enhanced medical tourism in the region and employ a lot of youth.”
“So why the delay? This is a physical project that has been done and if you go there, the project is lying there. This is not a project that should be abandoned. It has been completed. Fully completed. So the government should quickly inaugurate this edifice for the people of the Volta Region to benefit from,” he urged.
The US$25 million facility which was completed in 2018 is yet to be commissioned leading the opposition National Democratic Congress accusing the government of abandoning the project.
But in a related development, the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Achibald Letsa, has said the government will not open the Ho airport until it completes negotiations with private airlines who wish to start flying to the region.
“The President will not commission an airport when there are no flights. Until we are able to negotiate and convince private airlines to start flights to Ho, the President doesn’t see the wisdom in commissioning an airport without flights. That is what we are doing with the Minister of Aviation. If by the grace of God, we have a national airline soon, then it can be decided that it does daily air flight to Ho. We are convincing them to fly to Ho. It is not about the NPP having an airline and ordering it to fly to Ho. A private airline must be consulted and convinced to fly to Ho and that is what we are doing.”
