–CAA spokesperson says delay due to issues related to difficulties faced by airlines in relocating
–PM’s adviser and CAA DG quarrel over lack of facilities
ISLAMABAD: Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has reduced itself perfectly to a divided house as its officials have different ideas and understanding about everything under the sun. On key issues like operationalisation procedure and progress, the total cost of the project, news about a broken pipe, the absence of potable water and lack of edibles and vendors, they seem to harp their own symphony and their differences have led to the inauguration of the new Islamabad airport being delayed.
According to sources present at a recent meeting, the acting CAA Director General and Adviser to Prime Minister on Civil Aviation Mehtab Abbasi ended up in a bitter arguments regarding lack of facilities in the new Islamabad airport such as incomplete baggage belts, electrical work in rooms required for Customs, ANF, ASF and airline offices and most importantly the absence of functional bathrooms in arrivals and departures.
In a recent briefing given to journalists, CAA Deputy Director General Amir Mehboob said that the new airport spans 4238 acres of land, making it the largest airport in the country. The new airport has two runways, six taxi links, two rapid link cargo, apron fuel home, air traffic tower and a 50-bed trauma center facility staffed with doctors. It also has 18 duty-free shops, parking for 2200 cars and nine entry/exit gates.
“Ramazan dam that spans over 282 acres with a capacity of 1300 square metres will meet our requirement for 2 years,” he said.
‘We are fully prepared to ensure operation on April 20,” he added.
Replying to a query about the total expenditures, he said that the final estimate is around Rs105 billion. It is pertinent to mention here that originally the estimate was of Rs37 billion in 2014 and it ballooned to Rs81 billion. Also, the airport is located in two districts: Attock and Rawalpindi.
However, on a recent visit, it was observed that no transport route for passengers has been delineated. It is worth mentioning that some renovation work is still ongoing inside and outside the airport.
Sources close to its development said that some security agencies have aired their reservations pertaining to security of the airport and have asked the authorities to address them.
Talking to Pakistan Today about the verbal skirmish between the CAA DG and the adviser to prime minister on civil aviation, CAA PRO Farha said that there were differences over whether the staff had attained the hands-on experience of the new machines along with other issues.
“Since Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was out of the country, we decided to use that time to brush up our staff’s skills,” she said. She also said that CAA is fully prepared to operationalise the new airport.
“However, there are airlines and lots of machinery that needs to be moved and transferred from the old airport besides other things that do not come under the ambit of CAA,” she added.
Pakistan Today tried to contact Mehtab Abbasi on his official and private number but no reply was received at the time of filing of this report.
The residents of the twin cities have grown so indifferent towards the operationalisation of the new airport that when the inauguration date was moved from April 20th to May 3, there was neither a reaction nor interest from the masses.