Aviation Minister Joseph Kofi Adda has stated that the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) will commence domestic operations by the weekend after it was shut in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Mr Adda, even though the airport is closed, it still receives passengers and flights, especially cargo from different countries under special arrangements.
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Speaking to journalists today at the disinfection exercise at KIA, he said: “We are here to disinfect the airport in all ways possible, the airspace, the walls, the counters and everything that will be touched by the operators or passengers and the other areas to be disinfected include the cargo section.”
He added that hand washing machines, sanitisers, and border nose and face mask would be made available and checked by the company before operation resumes again.
The Minister revealed that in the whole of Africa, Ghana is the only country that closed down its airport and is about to begin operations and “we want to do it well and do it right by ensuring that we set the right example for others to follow.”
“For countries who have closed down their airport and about to start again is only Ghana which has achieve such feat so we are hoping after today, they will be mobbing up by the Airport Company Port Health and soon after by the weekend Ghana will start domestic flight”, he said.
Mr Adda added that it is possible that permission will be granted to foreign embassies who want to evacuate personnel as “we have been doing and when they get the permission and bring the personnel, the Airport Company will do the right thing to ensure that they move them out of the country”.
As part of the ongoing disinfection exercise in the country, the Ministry of Local Government in partnership with Zoomlion Ghana Limited extended the exercise to the Kotoka International Airport in Accra as part of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The exercise which was conducted by Zoomlion was made up of 140 sprayers made up of 14 groups.
Speaking to the media before the exercise, the head of the Disinfection Team of Zoomlion, Rev Ebenezer Kwame Addae said the exercise will last for eight hours and will take extra 11 hours before work can commence.
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Rev Addae said based on this exercise, all flight activities have been halted because earlier on, the Airport Company had served letters to workers to vacate work today.
He said the work is going on simultaneously in all the four airports in the country; namely Kotoka International Airport, Kumasi Airport, Takoradi Airport and Tamale Airport.
Mr Addae added that the first group made of 10 sprayers will start at T3, another will go to T2, T1 and others will go to the Civil Aviation building and there will be those for the environment comprising of O and B engineering, the clinic, project side and all the surroundings.
He added that other groups will go to the tarmac as well and where the airlines also pack, “we have the cannon automiser will also engage the park, the boomautomiser will do the tarmac so all the places are going to be engaged simultaneously and while doing that when one team finishes they move to other places.
He finally thanked Zoomlion Company for the partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and reiterated that this exercise was being carried out under the directive of the President.