Namah vows to probe poor lights at Nadzab

By GABRIEL LAHOC
DEPUTY Prime Minister Belden Namah wants an investigation into why the runway lights at Nadzab Airport in Lae, Morobe, do not work properly.
This follows an incident last Saturday evening when a flight Namah, other ministers and parliamentarians had been could not land at the airport.
With Namah on that Air Niugini flight were National Planning Minister Sam Basil, Internal Security Minister John Boito and Inter-Government Relations Minister Mark Maipakai.
They were on their way to attend the PNG Party fundraising dinner that evening in Lae.
They and the other passengers had to turn back to Port Moresby and make a second attempt into Nadzab.
On landing Namah and his entourage drove straight to the fundraiser, where guests had been waiting for them.
Namah made the call during his speech at the Lae International Hotel, saying heads would roll if they found out who was responsible.
The airport infrastructure at Nadzab, as in most provinces, is managed by the National Airports Corporation, which has yet to respond to queries following concerns from passengers and ground staff that the facilities at Nadzab pose a great risk.
Corporation airport confirmed that early and late flights into and out of Nadzab were risky as not all lighting and fire-fighting equipment were in perfect working condition.
They said the number of ground staff manning the airport had been trimmed and that had affected operations.
When queried, the flag carrier said: “Air Niugini has standard operating procedures and, as always, safety is of paramount importance in Air Niugini’s operations. If you have issues with National Airports Corporation, please take them up with NAC directly.”
The corporation has yet to reply to claims about the poor state of Nadzab airport.