By Goth Mohamed Goth
Hargeisa-Hon Farhan Aden Haybe, Minister of Civil Aviation and Air transport speaking to reporters during a press conference held in his office briefed them on his recent trip to Addis Abba, Ethiopia.
A high level delegation led by Minister of Civil Aviation and Air Transport Hon Farhan Aden Haybe representing Somaliland earlier in the met with his counterpart the Minister of Aviation for federal Government of Somalia with the aim of finding solutions to issues pertaining to joint airspace control which is controlled by UN-ICAO since 2013 FIS (fly information service) which is based in Nairobi.
The Minister went on to say, “In a meeting held in India earlier this year it was declared that since ICAO will not be able to control the Somali airspace as of the year 2018, it was proposed that a third country (India and Seychelles) to temporally assume control of the two nation’s airspace until future status of two separate states are reached.
Hon Farhan added, “During that point the question on whether it was possible for Somaliland and Somalia agreement to establish a joint Air Traffic Control that’s why we decided to meet so as to set proposed joint air control management and regarding these three points:-
The Minister of Civil Aviation further revealed, “We have three options to choose from which are as follows:-
- To adopt the Somaliland and Somalia agreement meant to establish a joint Air Traffic Control Board with the center in Hargeisa as agreed during previous talks in Turkey.
- To establish two entirely distinct and separate centers in Hargeisa and Mogadishu respectively.
- For the UN or a third country to temporally assume control of the two nation’s airspace until future status of two separate states are reached.
“During our meet in Addis Abba, we agreed on how to solve outstanding difference regarding the two parties the terms of reference as to the function and the shape of the proposed management board and how we can collect the revenue which is currently being collected by ICAO can return to us but we still have to wait for the road map which is currently being drafted by the experts, “he said.
The Minister of Civil Aviation further added, “Our mandate is clear, me and my colleagues shall be representing the government and people of Somaliland in the talks during the talks and the fact is the government of Somaliland has all rights to manage its air traffic services unilaterally that is not negotiable and no one can take that right from the people of Somaliland.
The Aviation Minister added, “I would also like to use this opportunity to express my utmost gratitude to all those who we instrumental in preparing the students for the task which lays ahead of them but most of all to the government of Ethiopia which has provided us with the Somaliland students scholarships, once again on behalf of the people of Somaliland I say thank you.
Lastly Hon Farhan said, “I am happy to see finally Somaliland born technicians, air traffic controllers and methodologists will in future be responsible for controlling and monitoring our airspace which means weare one step to the complete the necessary preparations for gaining full control of our airspace which was previously been controlled by Cacas and ICAO in 1991 and since we reinstated our independence from Somalia we haven’t had such opportunity to training fresh people. The Minister promised to support the newly graduated ministerial staff.