Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 Source: East African Standard, The (Kenya) Copyright: 2003 The East African Standard Contact: http://www.eastandard.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1743 Author: Barnabas Bii TRADERS ANGERED BY CARGO FLIGHTS DIVERSION Nairobi Transport Minister John Michuki yesterday came under criticism from traders in Uasin Gishu District over his claims that corruption led to the cancellation of cargo flights at the Eldoret International Airport. Area mayor, Mr Jonah Maiyo, said the Government had enough security machinery to contain corruption at the facility. He challenged the minister to come out clean on the reason behind the diversion of cargo flights from the facility to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), in Nairobi. "The Government should have gone after individuals involved in corrupt practices at the airport instead of working to cripple it by diverting all cargo flights to JKIA," said Maiyo. At the same time, traders who have been using the facility yesterday threatened to move to Entebbe Airport, in Uganda, instead of JKIA. "Our market has mainly been western Kenya region and parts of Uganda and it is better to re-locate to Entebbe than being forced to use JKIA," one of the traders told a meeting in Eldoret. Michuki told Parliament on Tuesday that the Eldoret Airport was an entry point for hard drugs and it was insecure since officials did not follow clearing procedures due to corruption. But the traders yesterday challenged the Government to establish tight security systems in all airports and deal with corrupt officials instead of taking measures that affected their operations. A senior official at the airport yesterday said the Government had lost over Sh54 million following the cancellation of the flights two weeks ago. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake