NAIROBI, KENYA – The probe into the fire that gutted a huge section of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) has already claimed a number of casualties with the Kenya Airports Authority Managing Director Stephen Gichuki leading the exit door.
The fire ravaged a huge section of the international departures and arrivals units of the airport that serves as a connection point for most of the East and Central Africa region.
Although the cause of the fire is yet to be indentified, investigations have intensified with questions lingering on just exactly how a fire of that magnitude could not claim a single fatality. No one died in the inferno that engulfed the facility in the week hours of the morning on Wednesday last week.
The fire crippled operations at the busy facility with airlines forced to meet extra costs of accomodating and rescheduling flight details of their customers. Kenya Airways announced Monday that it has lost some $4 million as a result of the inferno. KAA on its part said though the total cost of damages was yet to be worked out, an estimated 60 per cent of it revenues had been lost in advertisements and shop concessions.
A number of donor agencies have already lined up to offer support towards the renovation and recovery of the airport. Among them is the European Union Bank and the EU-Africa Infrastructure Fund.
The Board of Directors of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) while announcing Gichuki’s sacking pointed to a possible insider plot to sabotage the government and taint the efforts being made to promote Nairobi as the regional gateway and business hub in Africa. The position will be held in acting capacity byh Ms Lucy Mbugua with advertisements for the same expected to run in the next one week.
“JKIA is a critical facility of national and regional importance and we, together with the Government of Kenya and specifically the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, will support the management of the Authority to ensure that passengers are restored to a normal level of comfort in the shortest time possible,” read a statement from the board released Thursday.
The board also put in place a raft of measures aimed at returning normalcy to the facility, key among them being moving passengers out of the current tent lounges within three weeks.
