authorities of the Port Harcourt International Airport to put measures
in place to screen passengers entering the airport four days after the
confirmation of the spread of Ebola virus in Rivers State.
The State Chairman of TUC, Mr. Chika Onuegbu, said in a statement
issued in Port Harcourt on Sunday that not even temperature check
device had been placed anywhere within the airport.
It will be recalled that the dreaded disease has claimed the life of
one Dr. Iyke Enemuo, even as over 160 persons have been kept under
observation to ascertain if they have the disease.
Describing the development as callous and irresponsible, Onuegbu urged
authorities of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that passenger entering
and moving out of the Port Harcourt Airport were checked.
This, according to Onuegbu, will help in efforts towards containing
the Ebola virus in the state.
"The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Rivers State, is shocked that
despite the confirmation of Ebola Virus Disease in Rivers State that
the authorities of Port Harcourt International Airport have not put
anything in place to check passengers entering and leaving the
airport.
"Not even the temperature check device is in the airport. We view this
as callous and irresponsible and immediately call on the authorities
of FAAN, NCAA and all agencies in the Port Harcourt International
Airport to immediately ensure that they check all passengers entering
and leaving the airport," Onuegbu stressed.
He pointed out that the TUC were of the view that the diplomat that
imported the disease from Lagos might have been prevented from doing
so if FAAN authorities at the airport had done what was expected of
them.
The state TUC chairman, however, called on the Ministers of Health and
Aviation to ensure that such facilities at the Murtala Mohammed
International Airport in Lagos to detect the disease were also put in
place in the Port Harcourt International Airport.
Reacting to the TUC statement, FAAN Regional Manager, Mr. Henry
Anyanwu, told The PUNCH in a telephone interview on Sunday that the
Ebola virus screening device would be ready within the next two days.
"Something is being done about the Ebola disease. The issue of
checking the Ebola disease is a joint responsibility headed by the
Federal Ministry of Health. They are the key agency at the airport.
"People in FAAN are just a backup. We have our medical team at the
Port Harcourt Airport. I am sure that before the next two days or so,
the necessary equipment will be put in place at the airport," Anyanwu
stated.
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