Posted by By Simon Ateba on
The Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) project, seems to have finally collapsed with the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, announcing yesterday, that some of the key components of the project have been damaged and sent back to France for repair.
The Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) project, seems to have finally collapsed with the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, announcing yesterday, that some of the key components of the project have been damaged and sent back to France for repair.
The Federal Government, on Tuesday, gave an 18-month ultimatum to the new contractors for the completion of the project. But Demuren, who was speaking at a Global Flight Safety Symposium, yesterday, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, disclosed that some of the key components had been shipped back to France due to breakdown. Demuren did not disclose the specific equipment that was damaged.
The project was conceived in 2002, but it was not until 2003 when former president Olusegun Obasanjo secured his second term in office that work fully began. But five years down the line and over 59 million dollars spent, the project, which is meant to improve safety and national security, is yet to materialise.
Until now, air traffic controllers have had to rely on blow by blow information given to them by pilots. P.M.News gathered that with TRACON implemented, air traffic controllers can see an aircraft on computers right from the control towers and every inch of the way as it enters the Nigerian airspace. They can also monitor all aircrafts within the country's airspace at any given time.
Technically speaking, the total radar coverage of the country is planned to equip the nation with the capacity for effective surveillance of its airspace. It is expected to eliminate the incidence of un-dictated landing of aircraft from offshore airspace as well as reduce the incidence of missing aircraft. The project has suffered various setbacks, including failure of contractors to deliver.