NAIROBI, Aug 6 (NNN-KBC) — The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) has voiced its opposition to the proposal by the Adani Airport Holdings to take over management of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
KAWU Secretary General Moss Ndiema has said the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has not yet conducted proper public participation on the proposal by the Indian conglomerate to acquire a 30 year concession period which includes a new runway, terminal and refurbish existing infrastructure at the aerodrome.
“We have never been involved as a union and as representatives of the workers,” said Ndiema.
According to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Adani Airport Holdings submitted a Privately Initiated Proposal as per the Public Private Partnership Act in March this year, with the proposals currently being scrutinized.
JKIA which was constructed in 1978 has outpaced its capacity of 7.5 million passengers annually to the current 8.6 million.
The government has been considering a PPP model to aid in the construction of the facility which is projected to handle at least 30 million passengers annually within the next three decades.
“The proposed expansion of JKIA is estimated to cost Ksh 260 billion ($2b), a sum that the government of Kenya is constrained to fund due to the current tight fiscal situation,” said Mudavadi.
According to KAWU, any deal on the acility should focus on putting up a new facility.
“We don’t agree that KAA is unable to fund its own expansion, moderniation and facelifting. That is a blunt lie. If you look at the latest valuation, KAA is worth Ksh 1.1 trillion. With that value, KAA can comfortably mobilize resources and conduct its own projets,” said Ndiema.
KAWU further says the private management of the facility risks putting livelihoods of thousands of Kenyan workers at stake.
“We will not support anything that interferes with job security. This will affect not less than 20,000 households. KAA alone we are looking at about 3,000 employees,” he added.
The union now threatens to paralyse operations of the facility over the proposal. — NNN-KBC
