The Minister of Transport and Aviation Meets ICAO Technical Cooperation Bureau
The Sierra Leone delegation to the ICAO 40th
Triennial Assembly led by the
Minister of Transport and Aviation,
Hon. Kabineh Kallon has made a follow up meeting with the Technical Cooperation Bureau (TCB) for the development of Civil Aviation Master Plan for
Sierra Leone.
The proposed Civil Aviation Master Plan, which comprises airport master plan, Air Navigation plan,
security and facilitation plan, is essential for
the growth of a sound air
transport project that will ensure
the growth, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of Civil Aviation in compliance with ICAO Standards
and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
The Minister of Transport and Aviation, Hon. Kabineh
Kallon said the development of the Air Transport
Master Plan to foster the development of an
economically viable civil aviation system was a
key policy initiative of President
Julius Maada Bio as referenced in
his State Opening Address in May last year, and as the Minister responsible for aviation, he added that Aviation Master Plan must be one of the
government’s key achievement.
In addition to the Minister’s statement, the Director
General of Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority
(SLCAA), Moses Tiffa Baio recalled a team from
Sierra Leone met with the Bureau
during the Air Navigation Conference
last year requesting for their assistance to develop a Civil Aviation Master for Sierra Leone. He
added that the Bureau had expressed commitment by
assigning a focal person and promising to draft a
terms of reference for the project.
“The Civil Aviation Master Plan is essentially
important for the modernization, rehabilitation
and growth of the air transport
sector in Sierra Leone. In the
period of waiting, we received a resubmission of draft proposal from the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) which we forwarded to the
Technical Cooperation Bureau. We told IATA that
we were already in discussion with
TCB. We forwarded the draft copy
from IATA but we did not receive and response from the Bureau,” he said.
The Director of ICAO Technical Bureau Cooperation,
Jorge Vargas noted the significance of the Civil
Aviation Master Plan to the State. “What we
are going to do in order to
achieve this goal is to take up the responsibility
and move as fast as possible to submit the first draft of the document. We commit ourselves to submit the first draft of the Civil Aviation Master
Plan in two weeks’ time. We guarantee transparency
in every document we provide to
Member States and we ensure that
all services delivered will be in full compliance with ICAO SARPs,” he assured.
The Director of the Bureau appreciated the level of
trust and confidence the team from Sierra Leone had
in the Bureau, especially in carrying out the
proposed project, adding it was
the responsibility of TCB to provide
Member States with technical expertise, procurement services, trainings and fellowships. He also proposed a Skype Conversation later this month
to discuss more on the proposed Master Plan and
training needs of the SLCAA.
The Head of Project Development Unit of TCB, Guillermo Iovino emphasized that the responsibility of
the Bureau was to integrate the Airport Master
Plan, Air Navigation Plan,
Security, Facilitation, infrastructure
and environment into the Civil Aviation Master Plan to ensure compatibility.
Discussions were also made on fellowship programmes for Sierra Leone which the representatives of the Bureau assured they would
look into.
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