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A deputy Minister of Transport, Mr Hassan Tampuli, has directed the newly constituted board of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to ensure the construction of a new Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
"I am informed that the non-execution of this project could potentially impact on the safety and security of the country’s airspace,” he added.
Mr Tampuli gave the directive when he inaugurated the nine-member Board of Directors of the GCAA in Accra yesterday.
It is chaired by Captain Powis Deakens Spencer (retd), a former Ghana Airways pilot, with Mr Charles Kraikue, the Director of Engineering at the GCAA, and Mrs Mabel Asi Sagoe, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Transport, as members.
Other members are Mr Kwasi Owusu-Ansah, Air Commodore Jacob Anum Ashrifie, Ms Joyce Opoku Boateng, Mrs Cecilia Kwofie, Mr Ofori Kofi Newman and Mr Alfred Obeng, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai.
Investment
Mr Tampuli said economic benefits from the aviation sector could elude the country if the GCAA failed to re-enforce safety and security protocols, as stipulated in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 17 and its related standards and recommended practices.
“You must recognise that for the country to become the aviation hub, there must be a conscious effort and some level of investment to improve the safety and security of the sector," he said.
“As board members, your duties are to keep yourselves abreast of the authority’s business and take strategic decisions for implementation by the management to ensure good corporate governance,” the deputy minister said.
He said the board must also uphold the values of accountability, efficiency, probity and transparency in the discharge of their duties to win the trust and confidence of the people.
Mr Tampuli noted that the board was taking office at a difficult period when the aviation sector had been hit by the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic has left the sector to struggle in the last two years and still counting,” he said, adding that the aviation industry was one of the worst hit.
Commitment
Captain Spencer said the board would work to establish ‘esprit de corps’ among the staff and the management of the authority for the smooth running of affairs.
