From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The technical members of the Osun State Airport Project, yesterday, explained that the site at Ido-Osun was no longer meeting up with the standard of the airport, hence, the recommendation and the decision to relocate it to Ede.
The relocation of the airport to the hometown of Governor Ademola Adeleke has generated reactions with the Ido-Osun community protesting and threatening to resist the relocation of the airport.
But, speaking on behalf of the technical members in Osogbo, Otunba Lai Oriowo, explained that the standard prescribed by the aviation regulations and the international civil aviation authorities necessitated the relocation of the airport, saying that the existing runway which is 1.67km did not meet the required standard airport of 4.8km.
Oriowo who claimed to be part of the technical committee at the inception of the project under former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, explained that, “citing the runway at Ido-Osun site (Old Aerodrome Site) therefore, will require relocation of Adeleke Secondary School and also the displacement of some settlements at the other end of the site.
“The existing culvert of 65 metres transversely located at different sections of the running route and open/fabricated drainage already constructed are not ideal for an airport. The required length of culvert across the runway should be 150m against 65m to cover both runway width and its strip.
“The uncompleted terminal building, control tower building and fire and rescue buildings, are wrongly located with reference to the runway. Access to the airport is limited to only Osogbo-Ede Road.
“The layout shows that less than 120m is the available land at 04-approach threshold to Adeleke Secondary School’s fence for the Runway End Safety Area (RESA) and at the other approach 22, the available land is 150 from threshold 22 to Oshogbo, and Ede Bye-pass,” Oriowo said.
He explained that the reasons were cited as making the Ido-Osun site unsuitable for a full fledged airport and the team recommended the site located at Akoda, Ede, for the citing of the proposed airport as against the Free Trade Zone.
Oriowo disclosed that perimeter survey has been carried out, which revealed the total size of the site at Akoda, Ede to be 1922.111 hectares while the runway will be 5.6km for a standard airport as envisioned by the state government, and a sum of N5,091,161.25 has been paid to the Nigerian Meteorological Agency for the Wind Rose and Daily Wind Analysis, while N30,000,000 has also been paid as fee for the airport design by the government.