FG not implementing new projects in aviation sector – Amaechi

The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, said on Tuesday that the ministry had been implementing inherited projects in the aviation sector and had not initiated new ones.
Amaechi stated this when members of the Transportation Growth Initiative, a Non-Governmental Organisation, visited him in Abuja.
He stated that the ministry had made a decision to implement projects initiated by previous administrations instead of introducing new ones.
The TGI was led by former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka, who is the body’s Chairman, Board of Trustees.
Chidoka is also former Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission.
Amaechi pledged to support the group for its forthcoming international transport conference billed for October.
He lauded the idea of bringing all transport stakeholders in Nigeria and abroad together to brainstorm on the way forward for the challenges in the sector.
The minister said he would study the master plan of transportation, non-motorised policy and the rail master plan brought to his notice by the NGO.
He promised that if the “master plan is viable, it will be implemented”.
Earlier, Chidoka had said the international conference would hold from October 23 to 25 at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, with all stakeholders in the aviation and transportation sectors participating.
He said the conference would address the institutional gap between the transport agencies and transport operators.
Chidoka said the conference, which would be declared opened by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, would involve dignitaries from Ghana, Kenya, The Netherlands, Sierra Leone and several European countries.
He said the fastest way to diversify the economy was through transportation, noting that it would help to facilitate trade.
He further urged parastatals under the ministry to participate in the forthcoming conference to help move the sector forward.
Chidoka said during the past administration, there were three master plans initiated that needed to be looked into and updated.
He said the master plan of transportation, master plan of rail and non-motorised transport policy should be looked into “to help the sector’’.
Chidoka stated: “We want to bring together researchers, policy makers, regulators and operators in the transportation industry in a unified platform for addressing the challenges in the industry.”