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Operations
“Kiribati, being an island country,
we cannot remain an island forever.
We have to have links with the outside
world, and one of the important links is
international air transportation. That’s
crucial to our development over the long
term.”
Teekoa Iuta, Kiribati’s ambassador
to Taiwan, is very well placed to tell the
story behind the TaiwanICDF’s Repair
and Upgrade of Bonriki International
Airport Project having signed the
related loan agreement between
the TaiwanICDF and the I-Kiribati
government in August. Designed to raise
safety and standards by renovating and
strengthening the runway at the capital
city’s airport in line with international
requirements, the initiative was originally
conceived of as a standalone project,
but was later integrated into a wider
Kiribati Aviation Investment Project, or
“KAIP,” led by the World Bank.
Ambassador Iuta’s interest in
the project extends far beyond the
necessary diplomatic formalities. For
the ambassador, who has lived in
Taiwan since the Embassy of Kiribati
opened here in July 2013, the signing
in fact marked the culmination of her
own commitment to several years of
negotiations and preparatory work in
support of the project prior to being
posted to Taiwan.
“My first involvement with the project
was in 2009,” she explains. “That’s
when I was posted to the Ministry of
Communications, Transport and Tourism
Development to be the permanent
secretary there. The project had already
been discussed at that time.
“So when I came into the ministry
in 2009, initial discussions had already
started with the embassy of Taiwan and
the TaiwanICDF to identify a source
of funding, and then when I came in I
picked up from where it had started, and
started the detailed negotiations of the
loan, which was approved in 2010, so
that’s how I was closely involved in this
project.”
Meeting a Growing Need for
Improved Transport Links in Support
Of Wider Development
Ambassador Iuta says that the project
in its original form was designed to meet
a growing need for improved transport
links in support of wider development.
“One of the things that I think has
been a major challenge for Pacific
island countries is their isolation and the
difficult issue of access through air and
sea transport,” she explains.
“Why is this difficult for us to have
access to, or for us to be accessed from,
the outside world? One of the issues that
we have is that our infrastructure is not
very good. Our transport infrastructure is
not very good.”
Indeed, as Ambassador Iuta explains,
in recent years the deteriorating state
of Bonriki Airport – and the runway in
particular – had gone well beyond a
matter of subjective perception, and was
becoming a genuine safety concern.
It was this most urgent aspect that
was designed to be resolved as part of
the original TaiwanICDF project, with an
AUS$14 million loan being drawn up to
support the comprehensive rehabilitation
of the airport’s runway, taxiway, apron
area and perimeter fencing in line with
International Civil Aviation Organization
standards. The lengthening of the
runway as part of this process would
also “future-proof” the site, allowing for
the landing of larger and more-modern
aircraft for years to come.
After 2010, there was a pause in the
project when the I-Kiribati government
expanded the scope of operations,
working with the World Bank and other
donors to develop the KAIP.
Ambassador Iuta explains that
these additional project components
will improve other physical aviation
infrastructure such as Bonriki Airport’s
terminal building, lighting and safety
equipment, as well as facilities at
Cassidy Airport on Kiritimati Island.
Elsewhere, support will be given
to reforming the country’s aviation
sector and building capacity in airport
operations and management, with the
TaiwanICDF project being implemented
as one of the components under the
wider framework of the KAIP.
“The purpose of the project is to
improve international air transportation
links, because through that we believe
that there will be opportunities for
economic and social development,
and we’ll meet the national goals of
our government and also the people’s
aspirations for economic and social
development,” says the ambassador in
conclusion.
“I feel very gratified having signed the
loan, and I think it’s something, hopefully,
that will bring better things to Kiribati,
and also better things for our partnership
with Taiwan and the TaiwanICDF.”
H.E. Ambassador Teekoa Iuta, Embassy of the
Republic of Kiribati in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Co-financing of Airport Infrastructure
Bringing Kiribati Closer to theWorld,
Looking to Spur Wider Development
Interview
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