THE leadership of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and that of the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA) are embroiled in an impasse over the sharing of revenue accruing from aircraft landings at the Kotoka International Airport.
The GMA claims the GCAA is indebted to it to the tune of GH¢1 million from revenue accruing from aircraft landing and that the non-payment of the money is affecting its efficient operations, including the tracking of aircraft at the Kotoka International Airport.
The acting Director-General of the GCAA, Mr Simon Allotey, however, told the Minister of Transport, Mr Mike Hammah, that a meeting to find an amicable solution to the impasse had been scheduled for this week.
Mr Allotey said Ghana was demoted to Federal Aviation Authority Category One status because of security and safety concerns, as well as the weak oversight of the then Ghana Airways Corporation.
He, therefore, appealed to the minister to ensure that Ghana was promoted back to its original position by assisting the GCAA to complete the construction of the tarmac and putting in place certain security measures such as the construction of fire station.
Mr Allotey said safety had been the priority of GCAA and that it had been chosen by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to manage the Flight Information Region (FIR) of Ghana, Togo and Benin.
He said four companies operating flights had expressed their readiness to extend their activities to Ghana because of the good safety record of the country’s airspace.
He also appealed to the Minister of Transport to assist the authority to protect the land at the airport from encroachers.
Mr Allotey said lands acquired for the development of the airport had been encroached upon by estate developers and that had become a hindrance to the development of the international airport in Accra.
Mr Hammah emphasised that the airport played a pivotal role in implementing the government’s gateway programme in the subregion and appealed to workers and the management not to rest on their laurels but to develop strategies to sustain their role.
He urged them to be proactive so that Kotoka International Airport would become the aviation hub of not only West Africa but the whole continent.
He announced that the ministry would soon come out with an Aviation Policy Document which would enable all the companies being formed by the GCAA to operate profitably by weaning themselves off government subvention.
Mr Hammah said the government, as a social democratic party, believed in employment creation and urged management to bear in mind the creation of more jobs through its varied operations instead of relying on traditional sources such as revenue from airport taxes.
Mr Hammah’s visit also took him to the Ghana Airports Company and the Ghana International Airlines (GIA).
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