By Augustine Octavius
Aviation safety standard in Liberia is far below internationally acceptable standard as required by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the head of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority confirmed in Monrovia on Wednesday.
Mr. Emmanuel Nuquay, Director General of the LCAA said the ICAO has rated safety oversight system established and implemented in Liberia at 18.6 percent, instead of 60 percent required for member-states.
The Internal Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a United Nations specialized agency, established by States in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).
Mr. Nuquay, former Speaker of the House of Representative during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf government, disclosed that ICAO required that each state should have 60 in accordance to international standard.
He made the made the disclosure on Februeary 6, 2019 when he delivered the keynote speech at the beginning of the multi-stateholders’ meeting on aviation in Monrovia.
According to the ICAO website: www.icao.int/safety, “A Safety Management System (SMS) is an organized approach to managing safety, including the necessary organizational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures.”
The Director General of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority said that in the interim regarding security, Liberia is supposed to maintain the elements of at least 65 percent including security legislation, aviation secuirty regulations and the resolution of security concerns.
According to the ICAO, a State’s “safety programme may include provisions for such diverse activities as incident reporting, safety investigations, safety audits and safety promotion. To implement such safety activities in an integrated manner requires a coherent Safety Management System (SMS).”
In remarks, Transport Minister , Samuel Wulu, stressed the need to reduce the prices for air ticket because they are too high as compare to neigboring countries.
He said Liberians are having issues with obtaining of some western and eastern countries in Monrovia and they have to travel to other West African states.
The Transport Minister stressed the need to increase the number of airplanes in the country in order to reduce the cost of flight from Liberia.
The meeting brought statkeholders from the air tickets dealers, travel agencies, the Roberts International Airport, among others.