The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, has decried the slow pace of the implementation of projects that benefit agencies in the aviation sector, just as he stated that it easier to attain the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 Status of the U.S. than sustaining it.

According to him, I wish to bring to your knowledge that the heads of benefiting agencies including myself have expressed concern over the slow implementation of projects related to their agencies. This slow implementation has led to agencies exploring alternative funding for projects that were to be undertaken with World Bank assistance"

He continued, "Safety critical projects like the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and the Low Level Wind Shield Alert System (LLWAS) will now be funded through alternative means as not much progress has been made in the implementation.Work on the recertification of airlines which is a very critical project to the industry is just about to commence after three years of being in progress".

The World Bank project for NCAA meeting, he said is held twice yearly to enable the team have an on the spot assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the projects under the West and Central Africa Air Transport Safety and Security Projects.

He commended the visiting team for its efforts and support towards the successful implementation of the projects particularly those related to NCAA

He praised the Task Team Leader(TTL)for his support and cooperation with NCAA in the implementation level reached so far, noting that the regulatory body is particularly glad for the training of NCAA officers in 2009 in which 90 per cent was achieved .

The NCAA boss told the team that the training schedule for the training of its officers in 2010 will soon be submitted to the TTL for approval.

Other projects that are in the pipeline are the training centre remodeling , where detailed specification, drawings and design have been submitted to the Project Coordination Unit(PCU) for the preparation of the bidding documents, the landscaping of areas around the training centre of which detailed specification , drawings and design have also been submitted to the PCU and others.

On Category 1 he disclosed that many countries have lost the status because they could not maintaining it, adding that the US will not hesitate to withdraw the status if the country concern.

To buttress his point, Demuren, said countries such as Israel and Ghana had lost the status in the past, assuring that Nigeria will definitely attain the much talked about Category 1.

Daily Independent