A month after the refurbished General
Aviation Terminal or domestic terminal of the Lagos airport was inaugurated,
its effective performance is being hampered by faulty cooling and
conveyor systems, OYETUNJI ABIOYE writes.
Over one month after the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, opened the remodelled new
domestic terminal of the Lagos airport as a measure to relieve the pains
experienced by passengers, the multimillion naira facility has yet to be put
into normal operation due to technical hitches, investigation by our
correspondent has revealed.
The facility, which was opened on October 22,
2012, it was gathered, might not be ready for regular use at least in the next
three to four weeks.
According to findings by our correspondent, the
cooling system is somehow faulty, while none of the two baggage conveyor belts
in the departure and arrival halls is operational, thus restraining the Federal
Airports Authority of Nigeria from putting the facility into normal use.
More than one month after its inauguration, only
arrival passengers were being cleared through the terminal from the facility.
However, pressure from the media was said to have
forced FAAN to open the facility for normal use on Friday. But a top FAAN
official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak,
confirmed that the facility was far from being ready for use.
When our correspondent visited the facility in
the afternoon on Sunday, passengers and airline officials were seen sweating
under intense heat. Some of the airline officials were seen installing
industrial fans to keep the place cool.
It was also observed that the baggage conveyor
belts at the departure and arrival halls were not working.
The entire departure and arrival terminal
portrayed a picture of dishevelled operations, as checked-in baggage was
manually carried from check-in desks to the baggage screening machine by some
men.
Some passengers, who spoke to our correspondent,
said apart from having a new building, the hardships and pains encountered in
the initial make-shift canopies provided before the refurbishment were still
being experienced in the new terminal.
According to sources familiar with the situation,
the government in a bid to quickly complete and inaugurate the project, had
jettisoned the plan to install the standard central cooling system, called
chillers and found at airport terminals across the world, in the facility.
Consequently, the split units of air conditioners
were later introduced as a hurried measure to finish the project.
According to findings, the development has,
however, brought about performance hitches, which have forced FAAN to suspend
putting the facility into normal use.
Specifically, it was gathered that about 50 per
cent of the split AC units installed inside the terminal in place of the
standard central chillers had yet to start working, thus making the arrival and
departure halls to be very hot.
The development has been cited as one of the
reasons the departure and arrival halls of the terminal were very hot on the
day of the inauguration. Our correspondent, who also attended the inauguration
ceremony, recalled that standing fans were used to keep the terminal bearable
for invited guests during the short programme
However, a top aviation official said the
contractors had been working round the clock to ensure that the remaining split
air conditioning units become operational, at least, within the next one month.
A source close to the situation said, “The
contractor has yet to hand over the GAT facility to FAAN, even though it has
been inaugurated. The truth is that there are issues with the cooling system.
They are working round the clock to fix it.
“Going by the initial plan, which is the standard
thing for an airport terminal facility like this, the new GAT was meant to be
installed with normal airport cooling system called chillers. But the plan was
altered because the ministry wanted the project to be completed on time.
“The contractors told them that if they wanted the
facility to be installed with the chillers, it would take at least two years to
complete. This is because it will take time to install the chilling system.
“But because they wanted something they could
quickly inaugurate, the government jettisoned that plan and came up with this
patch up plan by installing AC units, which are not expected to be seen in a
standard airport facility like this.”
FAAN officials told our correspondent that plans
were on to also bring in some units of industrial ACs into the terminal to
enable flight operations to commence in the new General Aviation Terminal
before Christmas.
According to insider sources, the industrial AC
units are part of those that FAAN is using under the make-shift canopies being
used for flight operations when the new terminal was being constructed.
Industry stakeholders, however, said it would be
a disgrace for FAAN to be using industrial AC units in “a modern terminal built
for N648m.”
Another hitch facing FAAN over the new GAT
facility has to do with the fact that the contractor has ordered for a wrong
motor that cannot power the conveyor belts at the departure hall.
Findings revealed that the capacity of the
electric motor that should have been ordered from China to power the conveyor
belt was 350 volts, whereas the one brought was less than 250 volts.
However, FAAN officials gave an assurance that
the right electric motor had been ordered and would arrive in the country in
one month.
A similar fate had befallen the Murtala Muhammed
Terminal Two built by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services in 2007.
It was alleged that the central chillers at the
facility were not effective because of pressure to quickly get it completed and
inaugurated in April 2007 by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was to
leave office in May.
However, the General Manager, Corporate
Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said the new GAT had been put into
partial use.
On why the agency installed packaging AC units
instead of the standard central chillers, Dati said, “On the cooling system,
the technical experts are exploiting the best options available for the cooling
of the Terminal 1. Being a facility of world-class standard, it is pertinent to
also install commensurate cooling system befitting of such an edifice.”
On why the departure hall’s conveyor belts were
not working, he said, “While it is noteworthy to state that the installation of
conveyor belts has been completed, a small but major challenge we are currently
facing is that the output capacity of our power supply is higher than what is
obtained in the motor of the belts.
“Efforts have been concluded to get a step-down
transformer to suit that purpose.”
The FAAN spokesman said the facility would be
fully operational before Christmas.
“I wish to reiterate that start-up operational
problems are common in construction and gaps discovered are being addressed
immediately in conjunction with the contractor, who is still on site,” he
added.
Punch
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