Airport Projects On Schedule

by PNG Business News - April 19, 2021

Subprojects funded by the Asian Development Bank's multi-tranche funding facility loans for the Civil Aviation Development Investment Program (CADIP) advancement are on schedule to be completed within the facility's availability span.

The multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) is one of the ADB's modalities for assisting clients with their medium to long-term investment program or schedule.

Bashirullah Khpalwan, the project team leader for the ADB-backed Civil Aviation Development Investment Program, said CADIP is a multi-tranche financing facility that has been introduced in three tranches as planned.

CADIP is scheduled to be completed on November 24, 2021.

The 21 national airports that handle the majority of the country's domestic passenger and freight traffic are the target of this investment program.

He stated that CADIP's Tranche 1 was approved on December 1, 2009, and was completed in December 2015, while Tranche 2 was approved on November 25, 2013, and has made more than 95% implementation progress and is expected to be completed in September.

Tranche 3, the MFF's final tranche, was approved on March 2, 2017, and all contracts have been awarded, with the exception of Kavieng Airport, which will be awarded in 2020.

“The Kavieng Airport is on a critical path to completion and all other sub-projects under Tranche 3 are on track for completion as well within the MFF availability period of November 24, 2021.

The executing agency for CADIP, the National Airports Corporation (NAC), has agreed with the civil works contractor in Kavieng to an accelerated schedule to complete the entire scope of the project within the availability of the MFF,” he said.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying lockdown, the CADIP team and civil works contractors aim to make strides in 2020, with positive results so far. In terms of cumulative growth and milestones, CADIP Tranche 3 has proved to be one of the highest performing projects in the PARD portfolio in 2020. The investment scheme, according to Mr Khpalwan, is closely associated with the PNG Government's Development Strategic Plan 2010–2030 and National Transport Strategy, which both recognize essential air connectivity to rural areas as a national priority.



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The Southern Highlands Province's Mendi Airport Redevelopment scheme has been placed on hold. The redevelopment of the airport, which was scheduled to be completed in October this year, has been placed on hold, according to NAC acting managing director Rex Kiponge, due to the contractor not having the right materials for the runway and a disagreement among the landowners in Mendi. According to Kiponge, he visited the project site last week to do an inspection, and NAC discovered that the materials used to build the airport's runway were not the correct materials because the contractors struggled on their end, so the contractors were advised to re-do the runway. “I have to admit, we faced a lot of issues not only in Mendi Airport redevelopment but through all the airports under the CADIP Program. The contractors will redo the airport runway and the work on the terminal has not started as yet,” he said. According to Kiponge, there have been several landowner disputes that the provincial government is responsible for resolving. He said that he is eager to resolve the issues and complete the project under CADIP before the Asian Development Bank's deadline of November 24, 2021. The Mendi Airport Redevelopment project includes upgrading the current runway pavement to accommodate Dash 8-400 (Q400) and ATR 0-70 aircraft, as well as the construction of a new terminal building and other developments such as NAC Staff quarters, a tractor shed, an engineer site office, and a powerhouse. CADIP 1 is a sub-project funded by the Asian Development Bank's multi-tranche funding facility loans, and the ADB needs to see proper progress on all project sites completed during the availability timeframe before moving on to CADIP 2, which is scheduled for 2022-2024.


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