President John Dramani Mahama has announced an ambitious initiative to establish emergency airstrips across all regions devoid of a functional airport, in a bid to bridge a glaring deficit in Ghana’s aviation and emergency response architecture.
He made the disclosure during an engagement with chiefs from the Western North Region last weekend, characterizing the intervention as a vital conduit for critical medical evacuations and rapid disaster response. Per the President, each installation will stretch approximately two kilometres and will be fitted with a compact control tower to facilitate secure landings. Regions presently serviced by commercial airports, he indicated, will be excluded from the scheme.
Western North, notwithstanding its enormous cocoa, timber and mineral endowments, continues to operate without any airstrip, compelling patients and public officials to endure lengthy journeys to Kumasi or Takoradi in periods of crisis. President Mahama affirmed that the region will be a principal beneficiary, together with other newly created regions that have remained detached from air connectivity.
The initiative dovetails with government’s expansive aviation agenda, encompassing the much-anticipated Bolgatanga Airport in the Upper East Region earmarked to commence construction before year-end, and underscores a strategic pivot from centralizing infrastructure in Accra and Kumasi towards equipping every region with fundamental aerial linkages.
