Kenya Airports Authority explains JKIA darkness after national blackout

 

The Kenya Airports Authority has said that two of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's four backup generators failed to supply power after the Sunday night blackout.

In a statement, KAA said the two generators supply power to terminals 1A and 1E which experienced a blackout for several minutes before power was fully restored.

"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 Terminal's 1A and 1E, failed to activate," the Authority said.

"Our technical team responded swiftly to the situation and we are pleased to report that the fault has been rectified quickly. Power was fully restored to the affected terminals."

KAA in the statement also apologised to all for the inconvenience caused by the power failure at JKIA's Terminals 1A and 1E.

It noted that the other parts of the airport remained operational and were not affected by the blackout.

"We would like to assure the public that the rest of the airport, including the JKIA Tower and Runway, remained fully operational and was not impacted by this incident."

The statement came after some sections of the airport experienced a blackout after the backup generators failed to pick up.

Sunday's power outage was experienced from 8 pm. Kenya Power said the power outage was a result of a suspected fault affecting the power system.

Speaking on the same, Transport CS, Kipchumba Murkomen noted that JKIA has challenges, which they have been addressing progressively.

He called on the police to investigate the frequent blackouts at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

In a statement, Murkomen said the National Police Service should also investigate possible cover-ups of the same.

"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," he said.

Murkomen insisted that clean-up of the mess at JKIA continues.

He said the KAA Board is under strict instructions to carry on with the reform agenda and the management to implement, as directed, the report of the technical committee that was recently constituted.

BY  BRIAN ORUTA