{"id":596304,"date":"2019-03-05T14:26:05","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T14:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"
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Aviation Minister says the loan facility secured for the Kotoka International Airport\u2019s Terminal 3 project had very high-interest rate and this has prevented the Ghana Airports Company Ltd (GACL) from taking on other projects.<\/p>\n

According to Joseph\u00a0Kofi Adda,\u00a0the cost in putting up the Kotoka International Airport\u2019s (KIA\u2019s) Terminal 3 project is strangulating the Ghana Airports Company by preventing it from taking up more projects.<\/p>\n

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Mr Adda said \u201c\u2026in the recent past, we have had exaggerated or bloated cost and the use of expensive money to carry out the project. In some cases, we\u2019ve had a very high interest rate on loan such as the loan used for the Terminal 3 construction.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was speaking at the sod cutting ceremony for the construction of a new headquarters for the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority as well as the Kotoka International Airport\u2019s Northern Apron project.<\/p>\n

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He said, \u201cthe interest rate of 8.5% at the time was very high and now a few years later we still have the effect of what one might say amounted to the strangulating of the Ghana Airports Company by preventing it from taking up more projects freely as its revenues are being held in escrow to serve and retire the loan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government had to renegotiate it to 5% which is still not enough and so we continue to look for ways to bring it down even lower,\u201d he stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Adda urged, \u201cThe Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, to ensure that the public purse is adequately protected at all times as directed by His Excellency the President.\u201d<\/p>\n