The Federal Government yesterday shifted international flight resumption to September 5, 2020, a date it said was sacrosanct..... The earlier date was August 29 which the Coordinator of Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, penultimate week, said was not sacrosanct. According to him, August 29 is not sacrosanct but if aviation authorities meet the criteria for resumption on the 29th, they will be given the green light to resume. “We are grateful to CACOVID and its partners for helping to support this process, because it would help us to expedite action of the airport.
“And if I may clarify, we said from August 29th. We didn’t say on August 29th. So, very similar to what we did for the domestic flights. “Don’t come back and say that we promised we will open on the 29th, but that date is not sacrosanct; but we will work towards it.
“We will seriously try and deliver it but from the 29th as far as the PTF is concerned, if aviation comes to us and say they are ready from the 29th, we will say please go ahead. If they come back on the 28th, it is too early.” Director-General of the NCAA, Musa Shuaibu Nuhu, said during the briefing that while airlines and airports were ready to operate, other non-aviation logistics prompted the one-week extension. “We have other nonaviation logistics we are still working on, mostly the COVID-19 protocol tests and online platform,” he said.
“We need to get this ready.” Nuhu described September 5 as a “sacrosanct date”, noting that “the initial announcement was anytime from the 29th.” “In due course, we will be announcing the protocols for the resumptions and we will be giving further details,” he said. “Hopefully early next week, we will release this.”
While many of the international airlines were yet to meet the guidelines laid down by the aviation regulatory body, few others have complied. This much was revealed by the Director-General of the NCAA at a webinar hosted last week which shows that the carriers needed to meet with all aviation security guidelines and other air transportation regulations before they can be allowed to operate into the country. Nuhu said government was pushing ahead with the implementation of the principle of reciprocity against nationals of some countries that were imposing stringent travel conditions on Nigerian citizens on the bases of COVID-19 cases in the country. He said a comprehensive list of the affected countries would be released to the public alongside the COVID- 19 protocols.
Countries in the European Union (EU) had included Nigeria on the list of banned countries on July 1st, 2020 when they opened their airspace for international flights. The Ministry of Aviation, it will be recalled had said only about 1,280 passengers will be allowed in on a daily basis in Abuja and Lagos airports, when the country resumes international flights. Meanwhile, the PTF yesterday launched its Transparency Initiative Dashboard explaining how funds accruable to it from public and private sectors were expended.
PTF Chairman and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, in his remarks said “Today’s briefing has been packaged to underscore the level of transparency with which the resources deployed for the fight against COVID-19 have been used. As part of this briefing, the PTF Transparency Initiative Dashboards will be launched and that explains the presence of our development partners. This is a significant milestone because it puts valuable information at the disposal of every Nigerians.”
No comments: