Government is yet to settle on where the proposed Upper East Airport would be situated in the region. This according to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would be done after a technical team which is yet to arrive in the region to conduct an assessment of all proposed sites presents its recommendations to government for consideration.
The location of an airport in the region has been an embattled issue with three communities all making a case for the airport to be located in their area.
Speaking on the issue in Paga, Thursday, October 8, 2020, President Akufo-Addo said a technical team’s recommendations will be relied upon by government to make a final decision.
“So what has been decided which very soon we’d come around, is that a technical team has been put in place to come and look at the problem and decide and make recommendations as to which is the most appropriate place for us to able to put an airport. Very soon that technical team will be coming up here and looking at the situation, looking at the appropriateness and fitness, security implications of having an airport here in Paga close to Burkina border and also looking at the possibilities of one in the Bolga area,” he said.
He continued: “When the work of the technical team is over, the recommendations will then be examined by Government before a final decision is taken,” he said.
Though expectations were high for a conclusive decision to be announce by the President on the matter of the location of the airport during his visit to the region, the disclosure made has left stakeholders disappointed.
In 2017, a planned relocation of the proposed site for the airport to Sherigu sparked protests by residents of Sumburungu, a suburb of Bolgatanga which was earmarked to host the project. The residents of Sumburungu at a press conference accused the then Upper East Regional Minister, Rokson Bukar of deliberately attempting to relocate the airport from the Anateem site at Sumburungu, where they said significant resources had been invested, to a new site at Sherigu thus denying them of a project meant for them.
The residents of Sherigu responded subsequently in a counter press conference cautioning the people of Sumburungu to stop vilifying the then regional minister and allow experts to determine a suitable site for the proposed airport.
The disagreement over the siting of the airport was almost settled until the Aviation Minister and MP for Navrongo who was vying to be elected as the NPP parliamentary candidate indicated in a radio interview that there were plans to relocate the siting of the planned airport to his hometown, Navrongo.
