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{
"id": 37451,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/37451/?format=api",
"text_counter": 266,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kimunya",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Transport",
"speaker": {
"id": 174,
"legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
"slug": "amos-kimunya"
},
"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to begin with the last one. Hon. Shakeel may remember that this House passed an amendment to the law which created the Airport Service Charge Fund, to which all the airport service charge is credited. This is maintained in accordance with the same law that this House passed. The Fund is part of the national accounts. Going to the other specific requests, again in no particular order, the issue raised by the Member for Uriri, on whether the main generator should not have kicked on, the airport has four generators. Indeed, during the incident on the second day, the generator supplying power to the terminal building was on. So, there was light in the terminal building. However, the generators supplying power to the runway and the navigation systems were affected by the tripping. It is part of that complicated network. The cabling and the earth wire supplying both was the same. So, even though the generators kicked on, they could not supply power because of the same tripping, due to the inter-connectivity of the internal distribution system; this has now been sorted out. In addition to the four generators that comprise the current standby mechanism, we have agreed that the KAA will acquire another three generators, so that we can isolate the different areas of operation – the navigation system, the runway system and general lighting – so that there can be specific back up for each of those areas. So, irrespective of where the problem comes from, we should never compromise on the navigation system and the runway lighting, so that flights can continue landing and taking off at any one time as we have enough lighting at the terminal. That is something which is being worked on. We would rather have more generators than we need than compromise on the safety of any aircraft that lands or takes off at any one time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the aircraft were not diverted to Eldoret and Kisumu because we are yet to complete the ongoing works at Kisumu Airport and commission the facility. When we eventually turn it into an international airport, the issue of diverting flights there will depend on its capacity to handle flights. Again, it is an issue of personnel. The same applies to Eldoret Airport. If you divert there eight flights during an emergency, you will really need to have the safety of the passengers in mind. We could not have handled that much without deploying personnel from the various departments to Eldoret. So, in terms of such decision, it is all set out in international regulations, and it depends on what you do and where a flight is at the time when you divert it. If it is overlying Uganda, you are supposed to divert it to Entebbe International Airport. It also depends on the direction it is coming from. First of all, you should make sure that the passengers can land as you sort out your issues. Regardless of the fact that we would all have wanted them within Kenya, it depends on where the flight is at the time you are diverting it, because you declared that the navigation system at the airport of destination cannot support the aircraft that is just about to land. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue raised by hon. Mututho, as to when we are expecting the first A380 aircraft or any of those 787 aircraft and all that, again those are commercial decisions by the airlines. Our airport has been tested. Indeed, the 4.5- kilometre runway that we have can support an A380 aircraft. The only challenge we would have is that an A380 aircraft is a double-decker aircraft. So, in order to evacuate all the passengers fast enough, you need to think around air bridges. The design of the new terminal we are building includes a place where we can have a gate which can accommodate that kind of aircraft. Our airport has been tested and we know that we can offer emergency landing for an A380 aircraft that may be passing through our airspace. We have that capacity, and we will not allow any other country to outcompete us. Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Njuguna mentioned the issue of the total losses incurred. I indicated that at this point it will be very difficult for us to quantify the losses incurred. We know that there was so much inconvenience to the airlines – not just Kenya Airways but all the airlines whose aircraft had to be diverted elsewhere. That is part of the risks of the air travel industry. We hope that they will understand. We are working together to ensure that we do not end up with this kind of situation again. At this point, I would rather we leave out the figures until we see whether there will be any claims that will arise from this incident. I can update the House on the same later on. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in terms of how much funds have been set aside for upgrading of facilities, I would say that the KAA has had to survive on internally generated funds. As you know, there is very little in the Budget in terms of monies that have been voted for advancement of the airport’s facilities. We have less than Kshs500 million available for all the airstrips across the entire country. We require substantial amounts to do a new terminal and do all the works that we want. We have had to borrow from the KAA’s cash flow for all the funding that we require, including for the new terminal and all other works. It would help us very much if this House could also support us in terms of some of the proposals we have made, like increasing the Air Service Charge to make it comparable with that in the rest of the region. We charge the lowest in the region. We do not know why we give people discounts, yet we compete with the rest of the region. We have proposed to the Treasury to increase the Air Service Charge, which should generate for us a minimum of US$45 million per year. So, if that proposal is carried, in ten years’ time we should have enough money to amortise and secure the building by upgrading the facilities at the airport to be at par with what is in the rest of the region. In terms of the money that we have, it is still too little compared with our needs. We are doing what we can, from a purely commercial perspective, to ensure that facilities are upgraded. Mr. Speaker, Sir, coming to Eng. Gumbo’s concerns, as to whether the current airport managers have the relevant qualifications, I remember giving a comprehensive answer on the entire staffing of KAA in response to a request which was made on the Floor of this House. I tabled the details of the managers and their qualifications and the matter rested there. The Board made the decision in good faith, in accordance with the mandate we have given them, and ensured that the people occupying the current positions have adequate experience and the requisite qualifications to do the jobs that have been given to them. I have discussed with the Board and it is something that they have to do on an on- going basis. They assess the requirements even going forward as we advance and put more investment in the airport. They continuously look at all the people working at the different areas to make sure that they are still capable of providing us the first class service that we require. The human resource teams are all working on that to synchronize the people with the job requirements. So, again it is something we are alive to. We want to make sure that people do the right things and the right jobs are done by people with adequate qualifications because an airport is a place you do not want to joke around with. This is not just in terms of our own national perspective but we also have international regulations through International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) that we need to observe. Mr. Speaker, Sir, lastly in terms of the teams that are maintaining the electrical installations, I am not quite sure whether there is any link with Magnate Ventures on this. Magnet Ventures may have been one of the tenderers. I am not sure of the specifics of who is doing what specific aspect and whether they are doing the entire airport or just some specific tenders for new installations. I would say that the airport has its own engineers in addition to the contractors. Following the incidences that took place in the morning and in the evening, I did also ask the Kenya Power to move in there with their engineers. This is because Kenya Power and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) are two public bodies. The kind of thing that we saw yesterday; buying space to start faulting one another is really regrettable. I did ask the two of them to move in there together and sort out the problem. We do not want to know who is at fault. What we want to know is that the airport is safe and the electrical systems within the airport are safe. I, however, will check the role played by the contractors, if any. My understanding is that the fault had nothing to do with the lack of maintenance because of some works that perhaps may have been going on around that area leading to some exposure. That has been sorted. The good thing is that, that is history. Let us hope that the work that is going on will isolate any other fault. That airport is very important for all of us going forward."
}