The Wa Airport in Ghana reconstruction project is one of the government’s agenda to have aerodromes/airstrips in all the 10 regions and create an efficient transport system to open up the country for socio-economic activities.
Before the reconstruction, there were 757 structures that have been built without proper layout on the airport land. Many of the landlords were said to be without proper authorization and do not have the requisite documentation either. Of the structures, 280 of them were built to the lintel level, 370 were at the footing level, with 127 of the houses completed.
Also, Domestic airline operators have indicated that, lack of insufficient terminal building and other ancillary facilities have lead to poor flights operations from Accra to the Upper West regional capital. This has brought about quite a number of traveling persons to connect to their destinations by road from Tamale via the Upper East and Upper West Regions and Burkina Faso. The estimated distance between Tamale Airport, Wa and Bolgatanga is approximately between 194 miles and 100miles respectively via road.
In 2016, Budget and Economic Policy of the government to parliament, Finance Minister Seth Terkper said that the construction work at the Wa Airport was in top gear.
Recently, the construction of the Wa Airport Project which started in 2016 is now 100 percent complete and ready for commissioning, Mr Madison Dramani Iddrisu, Project Assistant, Skill Link Limited, announced.
Last year, consortium of banks led by Ecobank Capital had raised US$250m towards the airport’s projects in Ghana. About US$150m has been set aside to finance the construction of a new airport at Ho in the Volta Region, and also rehabilitate the Wa airport in Ghana which has now been rehabilitated.
Mr Iddrisu said this when Mr Sulemana Alhassan, Upper West Regional Minister, embarked on an inspection tour of the Airport to acquaint himself with the status of the facility. He said the project’s scope included the renovation of the terminal building, construction of an access road to the terminal building, construction of security post and landscaping. Others are the construction of a fence at section D, repairs of existed fence, cut and fill works, construction of 150 metres drain at air site, round way marking, filling of ditches at round way 21 with bolders, and the erection of bollards at section C among others.
It has been confirmed that work on the airport has finally been completed. The Regional Minister who was excited about the news of completion thanked his predecessors for the project and the contractor for the work done.
Mr Alhassan said he would now put in place the appropriate measures to ensure that the facility was commissioned as soon as possible to commence domestic flights to the region.
Last year, some of the residents of Wa complained about the bad infrastructure of the Airport
“The country is not too big but our transportation system is very poor. Elsewhere in the world there is good infrastructure and this makes life very easy. If the country wants to develop further, it must take the provision of infrastructure in all sectors seriously,” said Abdul-Salaam Abubakari, a resident of Wa. Recently, after the construction, the residents are excited at the development.
Currently, Ghana has 5 operational domestic airports which are Tamale Airports, Takoradi, Sunyani, Kumasi and the Kotoka International Airport’s Terminal one. To be included is Wa Airport which will be commissioned soon.
Ghanaians stand to benefit from an active airport as the act of tourism will be upgraded. In the event of this happening, tourists visit and trade between Ghana and its West African neighbours, including Burkina Faso, Mali, South Africa and Cote d’ Ivoire, will be encouraged and facilitated. Also, transportation will be made easy in the region.
