FG begins process to concession airports

The Federal Government, has, despite protests by aviation workers, kickstarted the process of concessing major airports in the country.

The seriousness of government’s decision on the airports was demonstrated on Friday with the inauguration of the Project Steering Committee and Project Delivery Committee by the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika.

According to Sirika, the Project Steering Committee, which has him as Chairman, was to provide the general direction and steer the course of Public Private Partnership in the aviation sector.

The minister said: “The driving force behind the federal government’s resolve to concession the airports were the overriding national interest in ensuring the establishment and sustenance of world class standards in both infrastructural development and service delivery.

“The misgivings some people have expressed concerning the exercise was borne out of the misconception that concession is synonymous with privatization. The institutions being concessioned remained the properties of the federal government”, he said.