Not operationalizing the Ho Airport; A symptom of underdevelopment

The Member of Parliament for Ho West Constituency Honourable Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah has said, the refusal of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government to operationalize the Ho Airport is a symptom of underdevelopment in the country.

According to the Chairman of the Volta Minority Members of Parliament Caucus, It has been four years since former president John Dramani Mahama inaugurated an Airport (Aerodrome) in Ho, the capital of Volta Region. The Airport was to serve the region and country in several respects. The facility has remained under lock and key since its inauguration for obvious partisan, political, and to some extent, anti-Volta reasons.

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Mr. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah again said, some people, particularly those opposed to the NDC’s vision of opening up Ghana to air traffic, have said that an airport in the Volta Region is not, and can never be a viable venture. Interestingly, however, these same group of people who gave all the reasons why Ho does not deserve an airport have not only jumped to the defence of a proposal by the NPP to build both an airport and a sea port in Cape Coast over the past few days. Wonders, they say, shall never end.

“Well, I rise to re-ignite the debate and justify why the Ho airport must be operationalized. Quite apart from the fact that the taxpayers’ money was used in constructing the airport, for which reason any further delay in opening the facility will affect the nation’s economy negatively, I do have ‘a million and one’ reasons for calling on the Ghana government to operationalize the Ho Airport.” He argued.

Mr. Bedzrah further supports his argument with some cogent reasons the Volta Regional Capital, Ho needs an Airport and must be operationalized as soon as possible. Below were some points he outlined to support his explanations.

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Firstly, opening the Ho Airport fits into the bigger agenda of developing the nation holistically and not based on narrow mindedness and whimsical political preferences. The Volta Region is as important as any other region of Ghana, where airports are currently operational. Personally, I have on countless occasions returned from overseas trips and had to move straight from the Kotoka International Airport to my constituency in order to continue my constitutional duty of representing the good people of Ho West Constituency. I know of many other colleague MPs, businessmen and women, traditional leaders, international guests, academics, students and private individuals, who do same on several occasions. The number of hours spent after touchdown through the heavy traffic from the Airport to Afienya, where the traffic jam gives way for easy ride is not only stressful but can be very tormenting.  A situation, where the aviation industry makes room for collaboration between big players like Emirates, Ethiopian Airline and the like,   to enter into partnerships with local airlines, where one can easily book these flights and indicate Ho as final destination from any part of the world will not only provide travel convenience to passengers, but trigger a cascading effect on job creation across many sectors in boosting our economy.

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Secondly, the Volta Region hosts several tourist sites that can turn the country’s tourism industry around for a giant leap on the path of development. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Kenya’s tourism industry contributed $5.9 billion to the country’s GDP in 2015 with projections that it will rise to $10.1 billion by 2025. There are many interesting sites such as the Tafi Atome Monkeys Sanctuary, Afadzato, Wli Waterfall, Gemi mountain, Forts along the coast just to mention a few, where with an organized structure in place, the country at large can hugely benefit from the tourist potentials of the Volta region. The industry’s potentials in the Volta Region could be tapped and mainstreamed into the country’s revenue envelope. Flying from any part of the world, and, either landing in Ho directly or connecting with a domestic airline to Ho will eliminate to a large extent all the road traffic inconveniences, provide safety for tourists while boosting both the local economy of the Volta Region and the country at large.

Thirdly, with the Teaching Hospital in Ho being an integral part of the academic units of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, it is envisaged that academics from all over the world would collaborate with their colleagues in the institutions for medical research and other scholarly enterprises. The same can be said for the Ho Technical University. Would it not be prudent to begin positioning Ho in readiness to host international conferences while promoting medical tourism in the country? Of course, would it be necessary for a person travelling to Ho from northern Ghana, to transit through Kotoka International Airport, if there were a functional airport at Ho? A journey from Ho to Paga or Navrongo by road currently is not only expensive but extremely time consuming. In this regard, it would be a reasonable thing to do by reducing the travel hours by road while ensuring safety and enhancing the local economies of the North, and the south, as the country prepares for the Big Push!

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He again added that, the pervious NDC government had envisioned to utilize the Ho Airport as an airline maintenance centre. Not only for Ghana, but for the entire sub-region, where there is currently no such facility. Are we considering the economic and scientific implications of such a drive for the country in terms of jobs for the teeming youth? “I suggest that the Ho Airport holds major prospects, not only for the people in the region, but for the whole country.” He proposed.

“I shall return to the second part of this opinion piece with my focus on Knowledge Transfer, 5G for the aviation industry, and the transformational implications of the Big Push for the people of the Volta Region and the entire country.”

SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh