News / National
Civil Aviation Amendment Bill faces rejection by MPs
19 Apr 2018 at 02:16hrs | Views
LEGISLATORS have threatened to reject the Civil Aviation Amendment Bill demanding that Transport minister Joram Gumbo should first attend to the decaying infrastructure at the country's airports to guarantee passengers safety before unbundling Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ).
The Bill seeks to allow for the unbundling of CAAZ so that airports and aerodromes are managed by a new entity to be called the Airports Company of Zimbabwe (Private Limited).
Chegutu West MP Dexter Nduna (Zanu-PF) yesterday vowed to block plans to fast-track passage of the Bill the "dilapidated runways" had been spruced up to international standards.
"This Bill should hold horses and we should advance resources that are being utilised in the unbundling processes towards augmenting resources for surveillances, for air traffic controllers and air navigation systems," he said.
He told NewsDay in an interview that the runways in their current state needed aeroplanes with good shock absorbers in order to land safely.
Nduna told Parliament last week that were it not for the aptitude of Zimbabwe's pilots and air traffic controllers, disasters might happen if the infrastructure was not rehabilitated.
He said most of the airports had deplorable state of radio navigation systems including headphones for the air traffic controllers and lights for the
runways.
Buhera Central MP Ronald Muderedzwa (Zanu-PF) said instead of unbundling CAAZ, government should consider mergers as was the trend worldwide.
"Basically, the issue that we need to emphasise on in our public utilities is cutting costs. This Bill should not be allowed to go through by this House," Muderedzwa said.
Southerton MP Gift Chimanikire said the history of Zanu-PF in the past 15 years had been littered by unbundling resulting in collapse of companies.
"The unbundling history in various ministries has not been a success. I stand up to support those who are speaking against the passing of this Bill in this House. I believe we have to look elsewhere; we have to look for partners for Air Zimbabwe, management," Chimanikire said.
The Bill seeks to allow for the unbundling of CAAZ so that airports and aerodromes are managed by a new entity to be called the Airports Company of Zimbabwe (Private Limited).
Chegutu West MP Dexter Nduna (Zanu-PF) yesterday vowed to block plans to fast-track passage of the Bill the "dilapidated runways" had been spruced up to international standards.
"This Bill should hold horses and we should advance resources that are being utilised in the unbundling processes towards augmenting resources for surveillances, for air traffic controllers and air navigation systems," he said.
He told NewsDay in an interview that the runways in their current state needed aeroplanes with good shock absorbers in order to land safely.
Nduna told Parliament last week that were it not for the aptitude of Zimbabwe's pilots and air traffic controllers, disasters might happen if the infrastructure was not rehabilitated.
He said most of the airports had deplorable state of radio navigation systems including headphones for the air traffic controllers and lights for the
runways.
Buhera Central MP Ronald Muderedzwa (Zanu-PF) said instead of unbundling CAAZ, government should consider mergers as was the trend worldwide.
"Basically, the issue that we need to emphasise on in our public utilities is cutting costs. This Bill should not be allowed to go through by this House," Muderedzwa said.
Southerton MP Gift Chimanikire said the history of Zanu-PF in the past 15 years had been littered by unbundling resulting in collapse of companies.
"The unbundling history in various ministries has not been a success. I stand up to support those who are speaking against the passing of this Bill in this House. I believe we have to look elsewhere; we have to look for partners for Air Zimbabwe, management," Chimanikire said.
Source - newsday
