FG Committed to Changing Face of Aviation, Says Minister

● Inaugurates project team for construction of FAAN office complex, staff quarters

By Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The federal government on Tuesday restated its resolve to change the face of aviation in the country during the tenure of the preasent administration by putting in place all necessary facilities that will enable operators in the system to perform to their optimum.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on behalf of the government, made the vow while inaugurating a project team for the construction of the proposed new office complex and staff quarters for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in Abuja.

The minister, in a statement by the Deputy Director, Media & Public Affairs of the ministry, James Odaudu, said: “It is an irony that the Authority that has the mandate of building and managing airports in the country does not have a befitting office complex in the federal capital, just as its staff lack adequate and befitting residential quarters. This has the tendency to impede on their performances.”

According to him, “The decision to construct the office complex and residential quarters through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement was to ensure that what would be delivered would be of a quality that represent value for money.”

Addressing the project team members, the aviation minister charged them to ensure that the most suitable designs for the office complex and staff quarters where respectively delivered.

“Among the team’s terms of reference is to identify and confirm the proposed location for the office complex and staff quarters and recommend means through which the Public Private Partnership can be fast-tracked,” he said.

He disclosed that the team also has the mandate to source for, and identify prospective PPP partners, and to also consider an unsolicited proposal by a firm, Elysium Integrated Development Company, to invest $27 million in a mass transit ground transportation structure at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

Sirika urged the team to be diligent and speedy in carrying out the assignment and directed that his office be briefed on a weekly basis on the progress of the task given to them.

Responding, the Managing Director of FAAN and leader of the project team, Mr. Saleh Dunoma, said the team identifies with the minister on his commitment towards addressing the infrastructure gaps in the sector, and promised that the team will be meticulous and swift in carrying out their assignment.

Dunoma said that the team members view the assignment as another call to national service which demands commitment and efficiency.

Membership of the team is drawn from the Ministry of Transportation (Aviation), FAAN, the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Federal Ministries of Finance, Justice and Budget and Planning.