Mozambique will complete the total refurbishment of its international airport before the South Africa 2010 football World Cup tournament explodes into life.
The work to modernize, expand and improve security and the runway, at a cost of $75 million has been awarded to a Chinese company, Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC) and funding is provided by China’s Exim Bank.
The director of the project, Acácio Tuendue told reporters in Maputo on Wednesday that the final deadline for the project is in May 2010.
“We are on time to conclude this project before the World Cup in order to cater for the visiting tourists, the project also includes construction of new facilities, such as a cargo terminal, an international passenger terminal, a domestic terminal, an international aircraft parking area, a control tower and presidential VIP building,” he said.
He said the work, which is being carried out with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in mind, will give the airport capacity for 900,000 passengers per year and employ around 1,000 workers, some of which form the airport management company Aeroportos de Moçambique.
The airport was built in the 1960s to deal with 60,000 passengers per year, but it is now used by over 600,000 passengers.
Source African Press Agency
