(Bloomberg) -- Kenya’s aviation union postponed a strike scheduled to start Monday to allow for talks with the government over a proposed deal to develop the country’s main airport, NTV reported, citing the union’s head.
Aviation workers are opposed to the planned 246 billion-shilling ($1.9 billion) deal between the government and India’s Adani Airport Holdings, saying it will lead to job losses among its 1,000 members.
Under the terms of the deal, the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s company would upgrade Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Kenya’s largest aviation facility and East Africa’s busiest airport. The project would include construction of a second runway and a new passenger terminal under a 30-year build-operate-transfer contract, the Nairobi-based network reported.
The strike will be delayed by two weeks pending talks with the state-run airports authority and the transport ministry, Aviation Workers Union Secretary General Moss Ndiema told NTV.
The government has defended the deal insisting that the airport is stretched beyond its capacity and is urgently in need of improvements. Further, Kenya’s constrained fiscal position forced it to seek private funding for the refurbishment.
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