Management of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has explained that the leakage which occurred in the roof of D Wing, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos terminal building was as a result of the ongoing upgrade works on the roof and not as a result of “the deplorable condition of facilities” at the Airport as reported in a section of the media.
A statement by the Acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu said that the while ongoing works in different areas of the international airport terminal have some effects on the roof, the core operations were not affected.
“Consequently, upgrade of facilities is on-going in different areas at the International Terminal building of MMIA Lagos and as a result we are experiencing challenges as we have to keep up with our core operations going on while the upgrade continues,” she said.
Yakubu explained further that while the upgrade were on-going on the terminal, a heavy rainstorm occurred causing some areas to open up, resulting in the leakages; because it was practically, for safety reasons, impossible for the workers to continue with the work under such condition, considering the altitude and slippery nature of the area, they had to stop. She said the works however resumed after the heavy rainstorm and roof has since been restored.
“Sequel to this on-going works, we recently experienced some leakages from the roof at the “D Wing” of the Terminal of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, owing to a heavy rain accompanied by wind storm.
This is directly connected to the civil engineering works going on at the roof top at that location, which temporarily interrupted our engineers who are replacing the old roof members with new ones at that instance. It was practically impossible to work at that location due to its altitude and slipperiness while the rains lasted, but work immediately resumed after the rain subsided, and the integrity of roof was restored,” she explained.
Noting that such a report is capable of causing fears in the mind of intending passengers, the FAAN’s spokesperson said the reporters could have cross check their facts with the corporate affairs department before publishing such a sensitive issue.
Describing the report as a malicious video clips to tarnish the hard earn reputation of FAAN, Yakubu said the upgrade is coming at the heels of the Executive Order issued recently by the Presidency aimed at “Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria”, and the Authority is doing everything possible to improve the quality of her services in line with the Order.
