Senate committee on Aviation berates NAMA over poor Navigational aids

The Senate committee on aviation on Monday, frown at the poor navigational aids system in some major airports across the country despite huge amount of money budgeted for the projects annually.

Vice chairman of the Senate committee on Aviation, Senator Bala Ibn Na Allah, who led other committee members on oversight visit to Lagos expressed disappointment with the poor state of projects in the services of NAMA.

According to Senator Na Allah, some landing aids like localizers and glide scope were not functioning to the required level especially the runway 18 of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Ikeja forcing pilots to act on their own decisions.

He noted that the cost of procurement of navigation equipment in Nigeria was three times more than in other countries across Africa warning that the Senate will ensure that funds budgeted for these equipment must be accounted for.

The Senator, who is also a pilot, explained that communications between pilots and air traffic controllers have been poor in some areas adding that there must be a change in the system to ensure that all the system works.

While berating NAMA for poor navigational aids, Senator Na Allah indicted the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for not being up and doing to its responsibility of carrying out its oversight.

He said the problem would have been resolved if NCAA has done its oversight functions on the facilities at the airports.

The Senator lamented that nothing was working in the aviation sector adding that aviation industry was in trouble as a result of self-denial where nobody was ready to take responsibility.

Senator Na Allah, while commending the management of FAAN for relying on its Internally Generated Revenue to sustain the organization, urged the managing director to stop collecting toll fees from aviation workers adding that workers should have access to the offices.

Earlier, the managing director of FAAN, Engr Saleh Dunoma, told the committee that airlines debt has contributed negatively to the development of the aviation industry.

Dunoma also explained that there have been a lot of burden on the facilities at airports as a result of flight cancellations by airlines leading to the overstretching of its facilities.