Govt plans reviving national carrier

Adnan A. Mohammed

The Minister-Designate for the Ministry of Transport, Dzifa Ativor, has reiterated the need for a national airline as a result of the country’s growing economy. She has explained that the defunct Ghana Airways during its time of operation in the country, faced several challenges, including bad management practices, advising that government will need to partner stakeholders in the private sector and investors in the aviation industry, for the establishment of a new national carrier.

The Ghana Airways, which was the only national carrier as at 2002, was stopped from operation after it was engulfed with huge debt due to poor management by the then managers. Ghana Airways coming back into full business has been an albatross on the neck of the NDC government, which had over the years affirmed strongly its commitment in ensuring the come-back of the national carrier through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative. In 2010, under the four-year term of Prof. Mills’ government, there was a strong advocacy for a national carrier by some groups and former workers of the airline, when Dzifa Ativor, was then the Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Transport. Dzifa Ativor who made this pronouncement when she took her turn to face the vetting committee last week, however, appealed to government to release the airport tax money paid by travelers, to the Transport Ministry, to facilitate the construction of the intended regional airports for the ten regions, which are all on her priority projects list. Moreover, she has stated that she would ensure the construction of a new runway at the Kumasi Airport, which she soon hopes to start to ensure an improved service at the airport.

On the development in the country’s railway line, she said she will ensure that the project is developed as she is aware of the country’s eager to see a huge development in that transportation sector.

Apparently, concerning the high charges on goods at the various ports in the country, Mrs. Ativor stated that the Ministry is working towards inland harbors to facilitate the transportation of goods to the northern part of the country.

“Ghana cannot continue to have the ports congested, so I will fast-track projects to make it easy to transact business in the country,” she hinted.