Hiiraan Online
Friday, June 19, 2015
Left: Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, the fifth and current President of the Council, Ali A. Jama Jangali, Somali transport minister, Raymond Benjamin, the outgoing secretary general for ICAO and Dr Fang Liu, the new Secretary General
MONTREAL (HOL)----The collapse of Somalia’s central Somalia in 1991has dealt an irreparable damage to the country’s general infrastructure especially in the field of aviation, forcing the new central government to start all sectors from the scratch though a noticeable progress.
Restoring such services have never been easier with the current minister of transport and aviation tries to take the issue beyond borders in an attempt to reassert the country’s air space administration.
Mr. Ali Ahmed Jama Jangali accompanied by two senior officials of the Somali civil aviation are on official visit in Canada. The minister held talks with the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nation specialized agency that deals with the global civil aviation issues, briefing them on the current situation of the civil aviation for the horn of Africa nation.
The minister has also highlighted challenges facing the ministry’s staffers in the country following assasinations of several civil aviation workers since last year.
During his meetings with ICAO executives including Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, the fifth and current President of the Council, Dr Fang Liu, the new Secretary General and Raymond Benjamin, the outgoing secretary general for ICAO. Mr. Jangali has urged the agency to fast-track its efforts and the status of the Transition Project SOM14802 aimed at re-establishing Somalia’s air space authority.
Mr. Jangali has warned politicizing Somalia’s air space, affirming that the entire Somalia air space responsibility lies in the hands of the Somali government, brushing off claims by Somaliland breakaway region in northern that it jointly controls Somalia’s airspace with the central government.
For the first time, the minister has held talks with an African Aviation group called (Africa group), with the two sides agreed on closer partnership to help Somalia to regain its air space authority.
Since the civil war broke out in Somalia, the ICAO in cooperation with UNDP Somalia established Civil Aviation Caretaker Authority of Somalia (CACAS) as a caretaker for Somalia's airspace. CACAS has been collecting about $6-7 million dollars every year for air navigation fees levied on aircraft flying over Somali airspace.
On December 4, 2014, the Federal Government of Somalia and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) signed an agreement officially commencing the implementation of the transition program (Transition Project SOM14802) that will transfer full control of Somali airspace to the Government of Somalia.