General News of Tuesday, 25 August 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Cape Coast Airport: Feasibility study briefs indicate market potential - Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has disclosed that the briefs available to him from a feasibility study done for the establishment of an airport in Cape Coast indicates market potential and interests from private sectors.

This follows a pledge by the governing New Patriotic Party during its manifesto launch to construct an airport and harbor in the Central region if elected for a second term.

“The brief I have is that there is a clear feasibility that gives an understanding that the establishment of an airport in Cape Coast is a necessity for the region, it has market potential and interests from private sector that will be willing to front load the financing for the airport and we the [NPP] are able to make a promise in delivering the airport,” he told Joy News on Monday, August 24.

Meanwhile, some experts have particularly scrutinised some of the items documented in the NPP's manifesto, particularly the proposed Cape Coast airport.

An aviation expert, Dr Yakubu Akparibo has said the planned construction of an airport in the Central Region is not viable due to a plethora of reasons.

According to him, most of the conditions that will be serving as the basis for such a project are non-existent, therefore, the government of Ghana should prioritise other infrastructural projects and not an airport.

Dr Yakubu Akparibo, who is also an Aerospace Medicine Physician, argues that commercial flights which form a major aspect of the viable aviation industry will not be available in the case of the Central Region.