By John Ikani
The Head of Zimbabwe’s Parliament Budget Committee, Oscar Gorerino has disclosed that planes are landing at Zimbabwe’s main international airport without any radar systems to guide air traffic controllers.
An airport surveillance radar (ASR) is a radar system used at airports to detect and display the presence and position of aircraft in the terminal area, the airspace around airports. It is the main air traffic control system for the airspace around airports.
“We cannot continue to operate without a proper radar system. It is very dangerous in terms of security,” said Gorerino during a Parliament session recorded on Thursday.
Gorerino went on to disclose that the Export-Import Bank of China had loaned Zimbabwe $153 million to upgrade the airport, including the radar system,
However, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) said it only has $1.5 million in its coffers.
The new radar would cost $3.4 million, Gorerino told Parliament.
The hearing did not discuss what happened to the rest of the loan or indicate when the radar broke down.
“It is very dangerous to have a non-functional radar system for a nation,” Gorerino said.
“Why is it taking too long to be upgraded?”
Zimbabwe’s economy has lurched from crisis to crisis for two decades, with foreign currency chronically in short supply.
