By David Ejiohuo (Airport Correspondent)
The Port Harcourt Rotary Club during the weekend donated a lavatory project valued at about N18m to the Port Harcourt International Airport, now known as Chief Obafemi Awolowo International Airport, Omagwa, Port Harcourt.
The lavatory project, the first of it’s kind in the airport, was started about three months ago by the humanitarian organisation and has now been handed over to the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), for public use and maintenance.
Many say the international airport, right from its inception in the late 70’s, has never been visitor-friendly as it lacks basic public facilities like the toilets or waiting and seating areas for her numerous visitors.
Worst still, despite several protests by the public, the teaming visitors and the host communities, the FAAN had paid deft ears to make the needed changes for good.
Speaking at a brief ceremony to hand over the project to FAAN, the Rotary President, Rotarian Christ Izidor Ukechi, said the lavatory was a star project born out of the need to provide solution to some problems identified at the international airport.
Rotary is known to solve, not complain about problems.
According to the Rotary President, his organisation also discovered that there were no public toilet facilities for visitors at the airport, especially for those that want to drop off or take their family members to ease themselves.
“People use their immediate surroundings to ease themselves or hide behind their cars to poo and in the process, create nuisances and epidemic problems.”
The Rotary President expressed satisfaction in the completion and handing over ceremony of the project and called on the managers of the airport to ensure proper usage and maintenance to reflect the excellence the Rotary Club stands for.
The new Regional Manager of the airport, Mr Michael Arewa Olatokumbo, at the occasion, thanked the Port Harcourt Rotary Club for the kind gesture and pledged to do his best to maintain the multi-millionaire project
Mr. Olatokumbo also called for more partnership in the efforts to make the Port Harcourt International Airport the best amongst other airports in the country.
“We shall do our best because we are here to work and we call for more of such projects and all hands to be on the deck to make the Port Harcourt International Airport the best in the country.”
