The aviation complex will proviso use the Entebbe control tower, according to the contractor building the recently finished Kabalega International Airport in Uganda’s oil city of Hoima.
Due to a lack of funding, the 90% finished Kabalega does not currently have its own air traffic control tower.
The public relations representative for SBC Uganda Limited, the business hired to construct the new airport in the Bunyoro sub-region, is Amos Muriisa.
Regarding the funding, he stated that they are “in talks with the ministry”.
“It [the money] might come or might not. We are currently 93% [of the way there]. The fuel farm, the control tower, and the housing for the airport operators are the only three things we still need.
This was disclosed by Muriisa on Tuesday during a tour of the facility conducted by technical and political representatives of Hoima City East Division.
The ministry claims to be hunting for the money still. We can get ready with what we have while we wait for funding to build the control tower. It is the most significant and crucial component still present on an airport because without it, coordination is impossible, he told the officials.
“The control is the entity responsible for coordinating coordinates, weather, etc. The controller is responsible for everything.
However, there is a clause that states that while they hunt for funding to construct a fixed control tower, they may connect some devices in Entebbe, place some here, and collaborate with those of Entebbe [International Airport] in the meantime.
Usually, ground-based employees (air traffic controllers) control air traffic by guiding aircraft on the ground and offering advising services to aircraft in uncontrolled airspace.
Air traffic control is primarily responsible for preventing collisions, organizing and accelerating the flow of airport traffic, and providing information and other support for pilots.
Buseruka sub-county is home to Kabalega International Airport.
According to the contractor, it will be delivered to the government by the end of this year.
According to Hoima City East Division Mayor Bosco Muhanuzi, who was a member of the touring delegation, the city leaders went to the airport to see how the construction was coming along.
He claimed that they were interested in learning more so they could educate the public about the prospects provided by nearby oil developments.
The tour’s organizer, Deputy Resident City Commissioner William Kasigazi Donanto, expressed similar views.
