The
Federal Government has plans to concession the management of the Lagos, Abuja,
Port Harcourt and Kano airports to private investors.
The
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, made the disclosure on Wednesday in
Lagos during a fact-finding tour of facilities and agencies at the Murtala
Muhammed Airport.
He
was accompanied by the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika;
Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Muhtar Usman; Managing
Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Saleh Dunoma; and the
Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Ibrahim Abdulsalam; as well as the
Director-General, Nigeria Meteorological Agency, Dr. Anthony Anuforom, among
others.
The
minister said the planned concession of the four airports was to guarantee
efficiency and good management in view of dwindling resources from the
government for infrastructural development in the aviation industry.
Although,
Amaechi did not disclose the airports that would be privatised, there were
indications that the Lagos airport; the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,
Abuja; the Port Harcourt International Airport; and the Mallam Aminu Kano
International Airport, Kano were the aerodromes slated for concession.
Amaechi
also gave December 2016 as the deadline for the completion of the four major
international airport terminals under construction in Lagos, Abuja, Port
Harcourt and Kano.
He
stated that after completion, the Lagos airport would handle 15 million
passengers annually, while the others would handle additional 15 million
passengers to bring the total traffic to 30 million passengers annually.
The
minister said, “The new terminal in Lagos will generate additional 15 million
passengers annually, making a total of 30 million passengers yearly nationwide.
The medium and long-term plans will require significant investments to upgrade
and expand infrastructure to meet current and future requirements.
“As
a result of limited resources for capital project development, the government
is exploring the possibility of private sector participation towards the
realisation of the industries’ potential.”
Amaechi
stated that there was an urgent need to continue to improve on infrastructure,
noting that out of the four conveyor belts in the Lagos airport, two had broken
down.
He
said the government would also enact laws to open up the sector to new
investments that would lead to economic prosperity.
Ameachi,
who described the tour as necessary to enable the ministry firm up its policy
direction in line with the determination of the President Muhammadu Buhari
administration to improve critical infrastructure that would help to reflate
the economy, said the transport sector held the key to the economy and formed
the basis of all socio-economic interactions.
“Nigeria
suffers the bane of inadequate transportation but perhaps worse than other
countries. Nigeria’s huge population puts enormous pressure on a very poor
transport infrastructure that bedevils the nation,” he said.
The
minister stated that there would no sacred cows in the recovery of debts owed
the various agencies.
Collectively,
Nigerian carriers are said to owe NAMA, NCAA, NCAT and NIMET over N4bn in
Passenger Service Charge and Ticket Sales Charge, prompting the NCAA to give
them a two-week ultimatum to pay up or be grounded. Not much is heard about the
ultimatum as Usman admitted that the agency was still pleading with the
airlines to pay.
The
NCAA DG stated that there were historical debts, stressing that what the
aviation was guarding against was the accumulation of more debts, a situation
that had made the agency to offer services to the carriers on a cash and carry
basis.
Source: Punch
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