ZUL-KIHIDA 1, 1429 A.H.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 28 2008
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Reps, FAAN to recover N4bn debts
The House of Representatives is collaborating with the ministry of transport and its finance counterpart to recover the N4 billion debts owed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
The Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Bethel Amadi, said that the three institutions would ensure that debts owed FAAN by parastatal agencies were deducted directly from their statutory allocations.
Amadi spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Ikeja.
NAN reports that government agencies and airlines are owing FAAN more than N4 billion, leaving it financially handicapped to redress infrastructural decay at the airports nationwide.
“For government agencies owing FAAN, we intend to work with the Minister of aviation and the minister of finance to ensure that these debts can be collected directly from government allocations to the organisations,” he said.
Amadi said it was imperative that the agencies paid their debts to FAAN to enable it to provide the necessary services at the nation’s airports.
“I can assure you that we are working out the modalities,” Amadi told NAN, giving the assurance that the committee would do its possible best to ensure that the debts were paid.
The committee chairman said that the House would mount pressure on airlines owing FAAN to pay the debts without further delay.
“We will ensure that adequate pressure is put on them to pay up in time”, Amadi said.
NAN recalls that the aviation minister, Mr. Felix Hyat, said last week that the federal government was contemplating a legal action against airlines owing its agencies in the aviation sector to the tune of N8 billion.
The Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. RichardAisuebeogun, speaking on FAAN’s debts recovery efforts, told NAN that the agency had received the support of the federal government to recover all debts owed it in the industry.
“We shall be calling a press conference very soon to unveil the debtors and our line of action in this regard,” he said, describing funding as a major challenge to FAAN.
FAAN’s Director of Airport Operations, Mr John Ezenwankwo, had told NAN that besides owing FAAN, the airlines were not remitting the Passenger Service Charge which they collected on FAAN’s behalf.
He noted that the aviation industry was cost -intensive, saying that FAAN needed huge funds to improve facilities at the airports.
