By Monitor
Africa-Press – Uganda. In November last year, a classified security audit on Entebbe International Airport raised some major concerns on the infrastructure and equipment in use at the airport.
The report’s findings, which were published in the Daily Monitor noted gaps such as a malfunctioning baggage handling system and potential problems on the runway’s landing and take-off areas, which the report stated were in urgent need of routine maintenance.
The approach to the runway in question was also reportedly engulfed in swamp vegetation, which was a potential bird hazard.
Just a month after the findings of this audit were reported in the press, an airport staff was reported to have been bitten by a snake on duty. The officer alleged to have been affected in the incident was employed in a sensitive area, handling flight information in the communications office within the airport Control Tower.
Several issues surrounding the incident, including the absence of an ambulance to transport the staff in the immediate aftermath of the incident brought into focus more gaps in the airport emergency response. The security audit on the airport also questioned the airport’s capacity for marine rescue recorded at less than 100 people per trip, below the desired number of more than 400 passengers per trip if all boats were in good working order.
Since 2020, the airport has been undergoing upgrade works to make it more spacious and user-friendly for growing international traffic.
This year, the airport traffic superseded numbers recorded from January to June 2019, prior to the outbreak of Covid-19. While the efforts to upgrade are to be commended, the process should be streamlined to ensure adherence to timelines for completion of upgrade works, sticking to laid down standards and as such, remaining within projected costs of work. The flooding which was confirmed to have happened in the departure terminal at Entebbe airport on Sunday does not inspire confidence in the quality of upgrade and maintenance work ongoing. According to the army spokesperson, who confirmed the incident, the leaky upper floors responsible for the flooding were not part of the scope of the army’s current contract.
The works at the airport need to be more closely supervised to avoid inconveniencing lapses such as the flooding but also to avert the effects of more serious defects that may arise from shoddy works, unnecessary delays and all other consequences of turning a blind eye when standards are flouted on strategic works such as the airport upgrade.
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