Windhoek
If industry and commerce are the engines of economic development then infrastructure is the fuel to the engine of economic development, Minister of Works and Transport Alpheus !Naruseb believes.
He said key infrastructure developments, such as airports, are critical catalysts to economic development, as he inaugurated a state-of-the-art Eros Airport Fire Station on Thursday. He also praised the Namibia Airport Company (NAC) for upgrading the airport infrastructure to international standards.
“In the last couple of months we have witnessed the official opening of the Ondangwa Airport terminal, Walvis Bay Airport terminal building and now Eros Airport Fire Station. These achievements are not only NAC’s, but that of the nation at large.”
!Naruseb said his ministry has set targets according to the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) to ensure the delivery of world class infrastructure that will be the springboard for economic development.
“Key infrastructure developments, such as at Eros, are critical catalysts to economic development,” !Naruseb emphasised.
The primary purpose of Eros Fire and Rescue Services is to mitigate and respond to structural and aircraft fires, as well as to respond to medical emergencies to save the lives of passengers, employees and save property.
“As the Ministry of Works and Transport we will continue to support NAC in its quest to build Namibia’s aviation capabilities in order to attract more airlines to Namibia, as Eros Airport is classified as the busiest airport in terms of aircraft movement among all its other airports,” !Naruseb said.
NAC chief executive officer Tamer El-Kallawi said the modern fire station is equipped with fire and rescue equipment with a water capacity of 2 400 litres, 1 800 litres of foam and 135 kilogramme dry agent chemical powder.
“Communities within a radius of 10 kilometers stand a chance to benefit from the services, as per Namibia Civil Aviation regulations. The NAC operates in a heavily regulated environment and, therefore, our infrastructure development, specially the fire station, is geared to meet and exceed the set standards,” El-Kallawi said.
Currently the station has 14 fulltime officers. “We trained 54 aircraft rescue and firefighting trainees at a cost of N$3.6 million to increase the shift lengths of the officers at all our airports. This is also in line with our sixth strategic priority area to develop our human resource capabilities in order to deliver on our mandate,” the NAC CEO stated.