Senates c’ttee wants better funding for aviation sector

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The Senate Committee on Aviation yesterday lamented the paucity of fund in the aviation sector and said efforts will be made by the committee to recommend that more fund should be allocated to the sector in next year federal government budget. The committee expressed these sentiments while inspecting facilities at the Lagos Airport.

The tour took the Senators to the new terminal building under construction at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to see the state of work at the terminal which is expected to be completed in March, 2016. The Total Radar Coverage, TRACON, project also at the airport was also inspected by the visiting senators.

Speaking with aviation reporters after the tour, a member of the committee and former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwakwaso said: “We want to thank the Managing Director of FAAN through you. We started this tour this morning at the Abuja airport this morning.

“We have seen the progress of work at the various facilities and we also saw the equipment. We are happy on the one hand and also not happy on the other hand because a lot still has to be done in the country’s aviation industry.

“We have seen the facilities, equipment and we are going back and put heads together and see what we will recommend to the senate to see how we can move the industry forward.“

Also speaking during the tour, the former Minister of Aviation, Princes Stella Oduah said the facilities at Lagos Airport need overhauling and proper maintenance and this requires extra fund to achieve. She said: “We will write our report and make recommendations to the Aviation minister on how to increase the revenue drive in the sector.”

Source: Vanguard