Firm to Invest N9.7bn on Infrastructure at MMIA

Chinedu Eze

Elysium Integrated Development Company has completed plans to invest N9.720 billion ($27 million) in a mass transit transportation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

This was disclosed by the Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika recently in Abuja, when inaugurating the project team for the construction of the proposed new office complex and staff quarters for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The firm has proposed to partner with FAAN to execute the project on Public, Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

The Minister who noted that through PPP, FAAN could build befitting office structure and residency in the federal capital territory, remarked that it was ironical that an agency that has the mandate of building and managing airports in the country does not have a befitting office complex in the federal capital, just as its staff lack adequate and befitting residential quarters.

This, he said, has had the tendency to impede on their performances and therefore urged the organisation to kick-off the building of the office facility as urgently as possible.

The minister said the decision to construct the office complex and residential quarters through PPP arrangement was to ensure that what would be delivered would be of a quality that represents value for money.

Addressing the project team members, Sirika charged them to ensure that the most suitable designs for the office complex and staff quarters where respectively delivered.

Among the team’s terms of reference was to identify and confirm the proposed location for the office complex and staff quarters and recommend means through which the PPP could be fast-tracked.

He disclosed that the team also has the mandate to source for and identify prospective PPP partners, and to also consider an unsolicited proposal by Elysium Integrated Development Company, to invest N9.70 billion in a mass transit ground transportation structure at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

Sirika also urged the team to be diligent and speedy in carrying out the assignment and directed that his office be briefed on a weekly basis on the progress of the task given to them.
In his response, the Managing Director of FAAN and leader of the project team, Saleh Dunoma said the team identified with the minister on his commitment towards addressing the infrastructure gaps in the sector, and promised that the team would be meticulous and swift in carrying out their assignment.

Dunoma said the team viewed the assignment as another call to national service which demands commitment and efficiency.

Membership of the team were drawn from the Ministry of Transportation (Aviation), FAAN, the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Federal Ministries of Finance, Justice and Budget and Planning.