By Adeleye Kunle
The Bayelsa State Government has clarified that the state-owned international airport was not downgraded, as some have suggested.
It stated that the lack of scheduled flights to and from Bayelsa International Airport for several weeks was not the state government’s fault, but was due to technical issues with the two airline operators.
Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the Deputy Governor, made the clarification on Wednesday when the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Bayelsa State Council, paid him a courtesy call in Government House, Yenagoa.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo stated that two airlines, Ibom-Air and United Nigeria Airlines, were performing what he referred to as D-Check on their aircraft, which had also impacted their flight operations from their primary routes.
According to the Deputy Governor, the D-Check is a major maintenance check to determine an aircraft’s airworthiness after it has flown commercially for ten years.
He stated that the state government was in contact with the management teams of both airlines, and that normal flight operations at the airport would resume by the end of the month.
“I can assure you that the Governor Diri-led Administration is on track,” he said. I’m sure you’re wondering what’s going on with the Bayelsa International Airport.
“There are a few issues, but they are not particularly ours as a government.” We are aware that some people are spreading the rumor that the airport has been downgraded. That is not correct. The airport in Bayelsa has not been downgraded.
“What happened is that the two airlines that work with us chose D-Check.” The D-Check refers to a plane undergoing a major maintenance check after being in flight for ten years to determine its airworthiness.
“If you pay close attention, you will notice that even flights on their regular or primary routes, such as the Port Harcourt-Abuja route, have now been reduced to only one daily flight.”
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who noted that the government was doing its best to change the general perception of leadership in the state, stated that the administration had taken proactive steps to mitigate the impact of the predicted large flood.
He urged the Federated Correspondents Chapel to help publicize the good things the government was doing in Bayelsa, noting that the Prosperity Administration was not sitting on its laurels in all sectors, from agriculture to sports, health, and security.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo thanked the media for its support of the current administration from its inception to the present, and assured the Chapel that the government would support their annual lecture, which is scheduled for November this year.
The Deputy Governor, on the other hand, observed that the standard of journalistic practice in Nigeria was steadily declining and urged the Correspondents Chapel and its parent body, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, to raise the bar.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr. Tife Owolabi, state Chairman of the Federated Correspondents Chapel, NUJ, stated that the visit was intended to formally introduce the Chapel’s newly elected executive members to the Deputy Governor.
Mr. Owolabi, who praised the Deputy Governor for being media friendly, urged the state government to include the correspondents chapel in its programs and events, even as he solicited support for their annual lecture program.
