GOVERNMENT TO UPGRADE TAMALE AIRPORT (PAGE 23, AUGUST 08, 2011)

THE Government is sourcing funds to undertake the upgrading of the Tamale Airport to an international status.
The Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, who disclosed this, said a team is currently in Brazil negotiating for funds for the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to undertake its programmes, one of which is the upgrading of the Tamale Airport.
“This project is very dear to our hearts and therefore government is on track to ensuring that this project sees the light of day,” he stated.
Mr Mahama was responding to an appeal made by the Acting Regent of Savelugu, Yoo-Naa Mahama for the conversion of the Tamale Airport to an international airport.
The Yoo-Naa made this request when the Veep, as part of a working visit to the Northern Region, made a stop at Savelugu to inspect the progress of work on the Tamale Water Extension Project.
“When the airport is converted to an international airport, it would open up the Savannah region by making it a major export hub for agricultural produce and other commodities,” Mr Mahama stated.
He said however that he could not give an assurance as to when the project would commence, because the funding arrangement was not yet in place.
In his request, the Yoo-Naa indicated that the Northern sector was full of potentials and therefore making the airport international would open the way for investors to tap these potentials.
He said the north could say goodbye to poverty and conflicts, because an international airport would improve agriculture and commerce, which would consequently create jobs and reduce the number of idle youth who are prone to violence.
In a telephone interview with the Daily Graphic, the Manager of the Tamale Airport, Mr Julius Akoboafo noted that making the airport international would certainly have social and economic implications for the north.
“People would be able to make direct flights abroad from Tamale, especially those who embark on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca,” he stated.
Mr Akoboafo mentioned that making the airport international would require extending the runway, building a new terminal and improving upon the existing equipment.
He said currently, about 1500 passengers used the airport on a monthly basis, but hinted that the number would increase tremendously as additional airlines would soon extend their operations to the Tamale airport.
Information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that the Tamale Airport was built in 1945 in Nyohini, a suburb of Tamale.
It was however relocated to its current place, near Savelugu, during the era of Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Although it was initially meant for the military, it is now being used for both civilian and military activities.
Many individuals and institutions have repeatedly called on the government, both past and present, to upgrade the Tamale Airport to an international airport, but that request is yet to materialise.