Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has told Kenyans to forget about embarrassing power blackouts at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport – JKIA.
According to Murkomen, the Kenya Airports Authority and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and finally fixed the power outage issue at the critical infrastructure.
The CS who has been under fire over the management of JKIA including leaking roofs held a meeting with key stakeholders on December 19 to review the mitigation framework.
“This evening, I received a status update from the leadership of Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) on the improvements being undertaken at JKIA to ensure it lives up to its billing as an airport of international repute,” said Murkomen in a statement.
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According to Murkomen the usual time-based system has been replaced with a logic-based system which in turn will allow a seamless transition to power backup.
“KAA leadership has assured me that issues of blackouts at JKIA are now a thing of the past after they replaced the time-based system with a logic-based system that will allow a seamless transition to backup power during blackouts,” said Murkomen.
Murkomen outlines strategy at JKIA
In addition, Murkomen explained that the manual interventions have also been put in place, faulty control systems rectified, cabling systems expanded.
Also Read: Murkomen – Why There Was No One to Sack at JKIA
Similarly, the CS said the inverters have been installed to avert blackouts at the airport by allowing a 15-second transition time.
In attendance were Transport Principal Secretary Mohamed Daghar, KAA Ag. MD Henry Ogoye, KCAA MD Emile Arao, and Director Air Transport Nicholas Bodo, among others.
JKIA Recent Blackout
Notably the new improvement comes in just ten days after JKIA plunged into darkness following a countrywide power outage.
During the of December 10 backout, the Kenya Airports Authority said that two of the four backup generators at JKIA failed.
“Over the past week, our generator system at JKIA has undergone rigorous testing to ensure continuous and reliable power supply.
Despite these efforts, during tonight’s power outage, two of our four generators, specifically those serving Terminals IA and IE, failed to immediately activate,” KAA stated in a statement on December 10.
Following the embarrassment, Murkomen asked the police to investigate the matter, claiming it was sabotage.
“Considering the frequency of the power disruption and taking into account the fact that JKIA is a facility of strategic national importance, we are making a formal request to the National Police Service to investigate possible acts of sabotage and coverup,” Murkomen stated.
