Work on relocation of Paga airstrip to resume

The government is to resume work on the relocation of airport services and an airstrip from Paga in the Kassena Nankana West District in the Upper East Region to Anateem in the Bolgatanga Municipality.

The planned relocation was started in 1995 but stalled along the line after a substantial amount of work was done at Anateem.

The Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru, is, however, optimistic the work would resume soon and that the project will now come to fruition.

He has thus tasked the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) to collaborate with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to work out estimates on the project and forward it to government for consideration.

Alhaji Mohammed-Muniru gave the directive when he inspected the uncompleted airstrip project site which is being earmarked for redevelopment.

Although the Paga airstrip has a good landscape, it cannot be used for commercial purposes because its nearness to Burkina Faso, a situation that forces aircrafts to veer into the airspace of that country before returning to the facility to land. 

It would be recalled that in November, 2010, A team of technical experts from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the Ghana Air Force (GAF) conducted a preliminary assessment of the Paga airstrip with the view to reactivating flight services at the facility. 

The Military High Command hds also sent delegations to to assess the possibility of constructing an airport to aid air transport to and from the region.

The Upper East  Regional Maintenance Engineer at the GHA, Mr Paul Bortierh said the width of the airstrip will now be expanded from the initial 60 metres to 120 metres while that of the length will stretch from the previous two kilometres to 3.5 kilometres.

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover

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