Yemisi Izuora
The National Association of Air Traffic Engineers (NAAE) has urged the federal government to expedite action on the quick clearance of Aeronautical Information Service equipment at the Lagos port and also the immediate installation and the takeoff of the automation of AIS.
The National President of The association, Engr Ebenezer Makanjuola said this while speaking at the occasion marking the 33rd NAAE day celebrations in Lagos.
The body also decried the absence of spare parts for equipment across the airports adding that the lack of spare parts has negatively affected the performance of equipment at airports across the country.
“Our greatest challenge today is spare parts, spare parts for our Navigational equipment, communications equipment and we are facing this today because of the lacuna in the system, government is aware of it and they are doing something about it” he said.
Decrying the ageing equipment, Makanjuola said there can never be a perfect system adding that there were bound to be hitches in every system hence there were professionals to attend to them in times of need.
“If there is no failure, there won’t be engineers. December 14 in the UK the whole system failed and they called all the flights. Nobody should premise what is happening on the engineers or equipment”he added.
On AIS equipment at the wharf he had this to say,”A IS automation ought to have started long ago but due to bureaucracy in the system. We are appealing to Government to expedite action on the AIS project.”
Makanjuola revealed that there has never been any accident traceable to air traffic engineers as a result of negligence in the past 25 years.
The NAAE president explained that over 20 engineers will be retiring this year from NAMA but added that there was no cause for alarm as management has been training and retraining people to take over from the ageing professionals. “The gap will not be too much felt and there will be no deficiency in the system as regards manpower development” he stressed.
He assured the flying public that the Nigerian Airspace is safe, secured and reliable and to ignore any negative statement about the Airspace adding that only the user will tell when equipment is not functioning.