The management of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCCA) has expressed optimism that ongoing works to upgrade and expand Entebbe International Airport will be completed on time.
Fred Bamwesigye, the Deputy Director General of UCCA, told a media team that was taken on tour of the redevelopment projects last weekend, that they are happy with the progress of all the projects.
The Entebbe Redevelopment Master Plan which is slated to be completed by 2034, was divided into three phases.
CAA received approval from the Parliament of Uganda to secure $200m (About UGX740 bn) loan from the Export-Import Bank of China for phase one of the project in July 2015. This gave way for the groundbreaking for the first phase by President Museveni in August 2015.
The first phase has a number of projects that include the construction of a cargo centre and access roads, the expansion of the terminal building, re-surfacing of parking aprons and taxi-ways.
The second phase of works will be carried out from 2019 to 2023 at an estimated cost of $120m, while the final phase will begin in 2024 and conclude in 2034 via an investment of roughly $160.
Bamwesigye said that overall, progress on projects in the first phase have reached 56 percent and that he’s hopeful that by 2020, they will be complete.
The cargo centre, a 100,000 ton capacity modern storage facility with cold facilities and an independent parking apron located near Kigungu landing site, is also nearing completion. The cargo centre, located on a 28-acre piece of land, was carved out of a ranch previously owned by the ministry of agriculture. The cargo centre though located away from the main terminal building, is connected by an access road.
Vianney Luggya, the Manager Public Affairs at UCCA observed that the completion of the cargo centre will create more parking space at the main terminal building.
The cargo centre is considered as one of the options to spur exports and agricultural modernization by enabling exporters and transporters with modern facilities to handle more exports, especially in fresh form.
The first phase of the Entebbe International Airport expansion works is being undertaken by three companies, China Nanjing, China Civil Construction Corporation (CCCC) as well as Seyani Brothers.
