The Ag Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Mr Mathew Pwajok has disclosed that the agency will focus more attention at the moment to complete some very critical and essential projects about safety and enhancing capacity of the system like Safe Tower, Total Radar Coverage upgrade, Aronautical Information Service, AIS automation among others.
Speaking at the recently concluded 26th annual conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents in Lagos, Pwajok explained that the Safe Tower was done in 2007 and is needed to be upgraded.
He said NAMA is embarking on the software and hardware upgrade of the safe tower project which provides an automated air traffic management system for Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.
Pwajok noted that the the Safe Tower is a very critical project, which spanned eight years capacity and enhanced the efficiency of the air traffic management system.
NAMA MD stated that: “The other project is the total radar coverage upgrade. You are also aware that was commissioned in 2010, over 10 years of using this system. We are upgrading it to the latest version called the top sky system and that project provides for enhancement of the efficiency in the capacity and the effectiveness of the total radar coverage of Nigeria in nine radar locations across Nigeria. That project is also very key, not only for safety but also security of the nation. We also have the navigational systems we are installing. At the moment, we have done over 10 airports with instrument landing systems category 2 and we have done instrument landing systems category 3 in Lagos and Abuja. We are currently doing Katsina, Port Harcourt and Kano.
He said the other project, the AIS automation has been ongoing for a long time and NAMA hope to get it completed before the end of the year.
He said it is the automation of the information management system for 24 airports and also NAMA headquarters.
Commenting on the closure of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Runway 18L, Lagos, NAMA boss explained further that: “It has been very strenuous but it is also something that we have done before in Lagos when the international runway itself was closed and we had to use the local runway, shorter one. We developed new procedures, developed contingency plans and we work collaboratively with sister agencies and the operators. It has been strenuous but we are doing it and we are doing it well at the moment”.
He explained further that: “There were initial delays but now I think we are on top of it. And it’s something we had to do. We have been anxiously waiting for the lighting systems on Runway 18L. It is something that is a necessary evil, we have to shut down and work on it to have a very good runway.
It is very important so that if you have problem with the international runway, you have something to use at night. The way we have been operating using only one runway at night means if we have problem with the international runway, it means we can’t use any other runway and I think everybody is collaborating to make sure that we can all endure it and at the end of it, Nigeria will be better off and Lagos will be better off”.
