Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon says Cabinet has offered its no objection for an award of $40.32M for the rehabilitation of the Ekereku Bottom Airstrip in Region Seven.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, Luncheon made this announcement at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing. He also reported that when Cabinet cleared the award, it also agreed to review all the airstrips, “particularly those in the larger Amerindian communities and in the mining sector.”
In August, over $105M was cleared for contracts to rehabilitate airstrips as the hinterland regions continued to be opened up and trade flourished from there to the coast. Contracts have been cleared for the rehabilitation of two airstrips, Lethem and Imbaimadai, to the tune of $37.6M and $68.82M, respectively. Both airstrips are highly utilised as Lethem is the centre of activities in Region Nine, while Imbaimadai is a popular mining area in Region Seven.
GINA said $108M was budgeted in the 2012 National Budget for the two airstrips as well as the one at Ekereku Bottom. This sum also catered for the ongoing maintenance of 43 airstrips in regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine.
