House Com’ttee on Aviation lauds NAMA for facility upgrade
…pledges support for funding
The House Committee on Aviation has lauded the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for the significant progress it has achieved in the upgrade of navigational aids and other surveillance equipment at the nation’s major airports.
The committee, after embarking on an inspection tour of facilities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Wednesday, expressed satisfaction with the speed of work on the facilities, especially the newly installed Category 3 Instrument Landing Systems at Runway 18 Right and Left of the airport.
The CAT 3 ILS aids the precision approach of an aircraft to the threshold of the runway faster and clearer than the CAT 2 ILS which was in use before now.
Other areas visited during the tour include the Communication Tower, which is currently being digitalized, and the TRACON Site which, according to the Managing Director of NAMA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, needs to be upgraded to modern standards.
Akinkuotu said the Agency’s role in the industry, which involves Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance, was very critical to the safety of flight operations, though not always in the open for assessment and commendation by the public.
He said the Agency required adequate funding, owing to its critical role, to upgrade facilities at the nation’s airports to international standards.
Speaking after the tour, the Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnaji Nnolim, said the new facilities installed were rightly positioned within the aeronautical area, giving a fillip to their optimal functionality.
He, however, said there was a need for an upgrade of other facilities to conform to international demands.
“We saw the need for an upgrade, which the MD told us that he would look into. We noticed the manual operation of TRACON. And when we went to the Control Tower, we saw the digital aspect of it and the MD also told us that the TRACON will be upgraded so that it will conform to the digitalization.
It is highly commendable that we have such facilities on ground, but we also believe that with government support, those facilities will be upgraded. And also other airports in Nigeria need to follow suit. It is not just Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano. We also have other airports because this thing has to do with flight operations,” said Nnolim.
He highlighted three areas the Committee would render its support to the Agency in terms of funding using its legislative onus, which include budgetary allocations, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and remittances from Bilateral Air Services Agreements’ funds.
“You know these things have to do with budgetary expenditure, and there are limits to what you can do, but that’s why we are here to look at things ourselves. We have already highlighted three areas we can partner with NAMA on funding. One is the budgetary allocation, which we have already approved their budget and they are happy with what the committee has done regarding their budget.
And we are also looking at the IGR and BASA funds that can be approved to help NAMA access funds. NAMA is very critical to us and we are going to continuously support NAMA regarding funding…We believe that when the budget implementation of 2020 will commence, those issues that he (MD) mentioned will be taken into consideration,” he said.
To further boost the operations of the Agency, Nnolim disclosed that the President, Muhammadu Buhari, has sent a bill to the house for the amendment of NAMA Act which, he believes, would accommodate critical concerns of the Agency.
Nnolim pledged that the Committee would ensure the hitch-free amendment of the NAMA Act so that it will conform to the modern international standard, adding that the Committee would continuously oversight operations of the Agency through its legislative mandate so it will not derail from its critical role.
