New Islamabad Airport may not open until next year, officials suggest
Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat summons CAA secretary, DG
Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat summons CAA secretary, DG. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Visitors heading to the federal capital may be forced to use the Benazir International Airport in Rawalpindi for a while longer after senators heard on Tuesday that the New Islamabad International Airport may face additional delays.
In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat at the Parliament House, with Senator Talha Mehmood in the chair, expressed their displeasure over the slew of irregularities and slow construction on the new airport.
CAA told to complete plans for third runway at New Islamabad airport
Senator Mehmood said that despite claims from senior officials of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) about work done on the airport, he said that per his information there was still a lot of work to be done on the airport, including on the baggage services.
Talking about the state of the airport’s runways, Mehmood said that while CAA officials had previously claimed that it was ready to see a plane land at any time. Furthermore, there was no sign of when the third runway for the airport would be ready.
He directed that housing societies on land where the third runway would be built should be clearly demarcated.
Senator Mehmood has summoned the Director General and Secretary of CAA over misinforming the committee on the project completion.
CAA representatives told the committee that they have not finalised a new date for inaugurating the airport, but it could be in December 2017 or in January 2018.
At this, Senator Mehmood said that previously officials had announced August 14 as the date for inaugurating the airport and that delays were being caused by the National Highway Authority (NHA).
The committee directed that illegal construction in the area should be stopped after serving due notices. Moreover, all those housing societies granted a no-objection certificate to construct in the area should be re-audited.
The Senate panel summoned the CAA secretary and director general to appear at the next meeting and explain why the committee had been misled. Directions were also issued to the deputy commissioners of Attock and Rawalpindi, along with the Fateh Jhang Tehsil Municipal Administrator (TMA) and Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) officials, to appear before the committee at its next meeting.
The parliamentary panel also decided to conduct another on-ground visit of the new airport to examine the issues.
Expensive buses
The committee also raised questions about the cost of the Metrobus extension which will link the airport to the capital.
New Islamabad airport to be named Xi Jinping airport
During a briefing on the matter, officials said that the extension, from Peshawar Morr to the airport is around 26 kilometres-long. The construction of the track had been divided into four parts and each part had been assigned to separate contractors.
The project, which will cost Rs15 billion to complete, will see commute time cut to just 40 minutes.
Mehmood asked why such a small project was costing so much. On this, officials said that compared to the Metrobus built in Lahore and Multan, this project was comparatively cheaper.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2017.
Visitors heading to the federal capital may be forced to use the Benazir International Airport in Rawalpindi for a while longer after senators heard on Tuesday that the New Islamabad International Airport may face additional delays.
In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat at the Parliament House, with Senator Talha Mehmood in the chair, expressed their displeasure over the slew of irregularities and slow construction on the new airport.
CAA told to complete plans for third runway at New Islamabad airport
Senator Mehmood said that despite claims from senior officials of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) about work done on the airport, he said that per his information there was still a lot of work to be done on the airport, including on the baggage services.
Talking about the state of the airport’s runways, Mehmood said that while CAA officials had previously claimed that it was ready to see a plane land at any time. Furthermore, there was no sign of when the third runway for the airport would be ready.
He directed that housing societies on land where the third runway would be built should be clearly demarcated.
Senator Mehmood has summoned the Director General and Secretary of CAA over misinforming the committee on the project completion.
CAA representatives told the committee that they have not finalised a new date for inaugurating the airport, but it could be in December 2017 or in January 2018.
At this, Senator Mehmood said that previously officials had announced August 14 as the date for inaugurating the airport and that delays were being caused by the National Highway Authority (NHA).
The committee directed that illegal construction in the area should be stopped after serving due notices. Moreover, all those housing societies granted a no-objection certificate to construct in the area should be re-audited.
The Senate panel summoned the CAA secretary and director general to appear at the next meeting and explain why the committee had been misled. Directions were also issued to the deputy commissioners of Attock and Rawalpindi, along with the Fateh Jhang Tehsil Municipal Administrator (TMA) and Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) officials, to appear before the committee at its next meeting.
The parliamentary panel also decided to conduct another on-ground visit of the new airport to examine the issues.
Expensive buses
The committee also raised questions about the cost of the Metrobus extension which will link the airport to the capital.
New Islamabad airport to be named Xi Jinping airport
During a briefing on the matter, officials said that the extension, from Peshawar Morr to the airport is around 26 kilometres-long. The construction of the track had been divided into four parts and each part had been assigned to separate contractors.
The project, which will cost Rs15 billion to complete, will see commute time cut to just 40 minutes.
Mehmood asked why such a small project was costing so much. On this, officials said that compared to the Metrobus built in Lahore and Multan, this project was comparatively cheaper.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2017.