THE Federal Government has terminated the $146 million (N23 billion) four-star hotel project, which was to have been constructed in front of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) terminal, over alleged non-performance by the concessionaires for the scheme.
The project, being handled by Terminal Zero Nigeria Limited, was started in 2005 during the administration of Professor Babalola Borisade as Minister of Aviation.
In its place, the site for the hotel project will now be re-modelled as a multi-storey car park.
Spokesman of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Akin Olukunle, who made the disclosure exclusively to The Guardian over the weekend, however stated that in re-awarding the contract, due process would be followed to ensure that work starts in earnest.
The current makeshift car park at the airport has been assessed to be inadequate and lacks adequate security for users.
At MMIA and Port Harcourt Internatinal Airport, receiving incoming passengers has been a harrowing experience, with those awaiting their arrivals being made to stand outside the terminal buildings, which have no good waiting facilities.
Most users of the airport also told The Guardian that the indiscriminate and illegal parking of vehicles in the area, especially by government officials, has accentuated their pains, while seeing-off or welcoming passengers.
Worse still, the premium portion of the current car park has been allocated to some government officials and multinational companies, with others pushed to the remote part of the facility, even when the favoured allocated area was not being patronised.
The car park itself is a den of beggars, touts and currency dealers, a very unbefitting feature for an international airport trying to ‘compete’ with the best airports in the world.
The Managing Director of Terminal Zero Limited, Gbenga Obadina, recently said the company was given the mandate to commence the construction of the four-star hotel at the airport.
Obadina explained that the project was 100 per cent private sector initiative on “our part and our partners,” stressing that a couple of investors were involved in the project.
He said: “When we got here, the old car park had about 600 parking slots. We were to build about 2,000 capacity at the current parking facility, which we believe to be futuristic, in addition to the hotel project”.
A source close to the firm however, denied the allegation of non-performance leveled against it by FAAN, adding that the bottlenecks put on its path by the aviation agency was the reason for the slow pace of work.
The official, who preferred anonymity, said the project promoter had scaled the environmental impact assessment hurdle of FAAN and was prepared to spend $146 million (about N23 billion) on the construction of the four-star and a car park within the vicinity.
When completed, the project was expected to ease travellers’ accommodation pains, while the promoter was said to have assured that the edifice would eventually change the outlook of the airport on completion.
He said the hotel, which was expected to have 400 rooms, would be called Terminal Zero Holiday Inn on completion, stressing that it was in line with situation in other international airports, such as Heathrow Airport in London and Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France where five star hotels are situated within the airport premises.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95420:govt-terminates-n23bn-hotel-project-at-lagos-airport&catid=31:business&Itemid=562
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