Transport  Minister  threatens to demolish buildings on Sunyani Airport land without compensation           

Minister of Transport, Kweku Ofori Asiamah has threatened to demolish buildings of encroachers on Sunyani Airport land without paying any compensation to their owners to pave way for the completion of the renovation of the airport.

He warned that the outright demolition of such buildings remained the only option to speed up renovation work of the airport in order to fully commence operations before the end of this year.

The Minister who was on a visit to the airport on Monday to inspect the progress of the project explained that owners of the buildings were given prior notice to stop the construction but they ignored the directive so no compensation would be paid to them.

 “We have indicated that the silver roofing sheets of some of the buildings within a certain radius of the airport are not acceptable and have asked the owners to change them”, Mr. Asiamah said.  

He explained that the silver roofing sheets would interfere with the activities of the aircraft and the measure was to prevent any future mishap.

The Minister noted that the contractor “is on course” and has given assurance that the work was 95% complete and was expected to be completed by the end of May this year.

Minister of Transport, Kweku Ofori Asiamah and delegation toured the Sunyani Airport yesterday

Justina Owusu Banahene, Bono Regional Minister, gave assurance the sector minister’s directive for the buildings to be pulled down would be complied with.

She recalled that during her tenure as Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, she and the Sunyani West Municipal Chief Executive, Martin Obeng, asked owners of the buildings to stop encroaching on the airport land but they ignored the directive.

The Managing Director of Ghana Airport Company Limited, Mr. Yaw Kwakwa, disclosed that the airport had received a facelift in some areas, including furniture, carpets, washrooms, and the lighting system.

A new area has also been created to separate the departure and arrival halls, he said. Adding the company was hoping to expand the length of the Airport from 1,520 to 1,900 metres.

Nana Ama Asiedu, Bono East Region