When completed, the Tamale Airport will serve as an alternative to the Kotoka International Airport which is the only international airport the country currently has.<\/p>\n
According to the government, the airport will also handle international operations, including the seasonal Hajj pilgrimage flights between Ghana and Mecca and it will as well support the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in the export of perishable goods, especially fruits and vegetables to Europe.<\/p>\n
However, speaking on the Point Blank<\/strong> segment of Eyewitness News<\/strong> on Wednesday, Abu Ramadan who is also the National Youth Organizer of the People’s National Convention (PNC) said the project would have benefited the Ashanti Region.<\/p>\n \u201cThat big airport we are building in Tamale would have better suited and would have raised more money for this country if it was built in the Ashanti Region,\u201d he opined.<\/p>\n He observed that if government\u2019s reason for building an international airport in Tamale is just to airlift pilgrims to Mecca during the Hajj, then it should discontinue the project.<\/p>\n According to him, the Tamale airport currently generates little traffic from domestic airlines therefore; it will be unwise to continue with the project.<\/p>\n He said:\u00a0 \u201cEven the domestic flights, how many of them and how many flights do they do take to Tamale? It has nothing to do with the size of the airport but the traffic situation is low.\u201d<\/p>\n He commended government for the ongoing expansion works at the Kotoka International Airport saying, \u201cI will commend the government for the expansion project but will ask government to go a step further and look at ways of expanding Kotoka to make it bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n Reacting to the newly refurbished Kumasi airport, Abu Ramadan asked, \u201ccan Lufthansa land on the runway? So we can have Emirates and South African Airways land there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPutting lights on the runway and putting all those sophisticated equipment to allow planes to land in the evening have been long overdue. Kudos, well done, you have done it but the Tamale project is the most misplaced construction project if you ask me,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He clarified that his criticisms of the NDC government must not be misconstrued to mean \u201cAbu Ramadan hates the NDC government so much that nothing pleases me.\u201d<\/p>\n The AFAG member said if the \u201cgovernment does something right, I will praise the government. With the hardships we face currently, government needs to sit up and that is the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana![\"Tamale](\"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Tamale-Airport-2.jpg\")
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