Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih is the Upper West Regional Minister
Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, has, on behalf of the people in the region, thanked the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and some sector ministers for their roles in facilitating the resumption of commercial flights to the region.
The sector ministers were the Transport Minister, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah; Interior Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery; and, Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communication and Digitalization.
Dr. Salih also thanked the chiefs and people of the region and all stakeholders who contributed in diverse ways towards resolving the challenges that impeded the smooth operation of commercial flights to the region.
“On July 27, 2021, a check at the site of the Vodafone telecommunication mast located at the Kpaguri residential area obstructing flights showed that it had been removed, paving the way for smooth landing of aircraft at the Wa Airport”, he noted.
Some tall tress located close to the airport, which also obstructed the flight operations had also been cut down at the order of Dr. Salih.
He indicated that he had written to all relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Transport, the Ghana Airport Company, and African World Airlines, to notify them of the removal of the mast and other stumbling blocks hoping that they would resume their services as soon as possible.
The Minister expressed hope that the resumption of commercial flights operations to the Wa Airport would be of tremendous benefit to the people of the region and the business community.
Commercial flights to the Wa Airport began in October 2019, which had contributed to the growth of businesses in the region.
However, in March 2020, the sole commercial flights operator to the region, the African World Airline (AWA), halted its services, due to a telecommunication mast and other objects that obstructed its smooth operation (smooth take-off and landing).
The Regional Minister subsequently met the Telecommunication Network Company that owned the mast and other parties involved to remove and relocate the mast to help ensure smooth operation of the airport but the company failed to meet the request of the minister.
Dr. Sali later led some eminent chiefs from the region to meet President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House, to among other things, appeal to the President to intervene and get the issues addressed to enable commercial flight return to the region.
Accordingly, on June 2, 2021, the Transport Minister Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah visited the region to ascertain the challenges and assured the Regional Minister of his commitment to ensuring that the telecommunication mast was removed.