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On 15th March 2022, Dr. John Edward Tambi, Chairman of the Office of Presidential Infrastructure Initiative, explained to the Director General of NASSIT, and the people of Sierra Leone that the current Airport Project at Lungi was not an extension of the Lungi International Airport but the construction of a new ultra-modern airport that would meet international standards.
Dr. Tambi made that disclosure during a courtesy visit at the construction site in Lungi.
Speaking at the occasion, the NASSIT Director General, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, expressed his gratitude to the Chairman of the Office of Presidential Infrastructure Initiative and the Management of SUMMA group for their compliance with the NASSIT scheme.
He said although the scheme was mandatory, some employers would not want to comply with the provisions of the Act.
He intimated that the SUMMA Group had demonstrated exemplary adherence to State regulations.
He informed that the NASSIT Scheme is a statutory public Trust charged with the responsibility to administer the Sierra Leone Pension Scheme.
“The Scheme”, according to the Director General, “provides retirement and other benefits to meet the contingency needs of workers and their target beneficiaries”.
He called on the SUMMA Management to uphold their compliance status and assured them of NASSIT’s continued support to the company for the good of Sierra Leone and Sierra Leoneans.
Updating his audience on the project, the Chairman of the Office of Presidential Infrastructure Initiative opined that Sierra Leone is at the dawn of a new era in air transportation, adding that the current work was not a rehabilitation nor an extension of the current Lungi International Airport but a new ultra-modern Airport that was being constructed.
According to Dr. Tambi, “the new Airport project is a $270 Million Build Operate and Transfer Project between the SUMMA Group (a Turkish company) and the Government of Sierra Leone”.
The project, the Chairman revealed, was conceived, planned, and developed by the Office of Presidential Infrastructure Initiative as one of the strategic flagship projects of the Government and it included the construction of a new passenger terminal, a new VIP/ Presidential terminal, a new Air traffic control tower, a new parallel taxiway, a new cargo terminal, a new search and rescue/fire fighting facility, a new car park, the restructuring and resurfacing of the existing runway, a new fuel farm and the establishment of a 1.5 mega watts solar farm.
“At the end of this project Sierra Leone will have a brand new airport with modern international facilities and services,” the Chairman concluded.
Profiling the SUMMA group, Arif Erdem Arikan, Regional Manager of the group informed that the Summa group is a global construction company of diversified interests and operations for over 17 years. It is one of the top 250 international construction companies.
According to Arikan, the company would deliver a milestone project aimed at enhancing the development and welfare of the communities where they carry out construction works.
He informed the gathering that SUMMA had vast expertise in airport construction, tourism, and housing infrastructures such as the Kigali Arena in Rwanda, the Blaise Diagne International Airport Senegal, the Radisson Blu Hotel in Libya and the Dakar Conference Center in Senegal.
He assured Sierra Leoneans that at completion, the ultra-modern complex would compete with the very best in the sub-region as the visit ended with a site tour of the projects.
