The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet Minister yesterday said the Civil Aviation Bill 2015 and accompanying regulations would take the Bahamian aviation sector “into the 21st century”, creating a new regulator with responsibility for aviation security and safety.

Glenys Hanna Martin, minister of transport and aviation, told the House of Assembly that the Civil Aviation Department (CAD)will be “no more, and will be replaced by a Civil Aviation Authority.  The change will separate the industry’s operational oversight from its regulatory functions.

“The Department of Civil Aviation will be no more. In its stead we will have a new regulator for aviation safety and security in the Bahamas; a new and independent air navigation service provider; a new and independent accident and events investigation agency,” Mrs Hanna Martin said.

“Family Island operations will be transferred to the Airport Authority in its Family Island division. This structural reform reflects best practices worldwide, and ensures that the Bahamas, as a members state of ICAO, is in compliance with its obligations. We are are taking our aviation sector into the 21st century.”

Mrs Hanna-Martin said the Civil Aviation Authority “will be responsible for the oversight, regulation and quality assurance of both domestic and international standards and practices, conventions and regulations in all areas of aviation”.

It will be headed by a director who will be appointed by the minister responsible for civil aviation, initially for three years.

Mrs Hanna Martin said there will be a new  air navigation service provider,  the Bahamas Air Navigation Service Division, which will have at its disposal “21st century equipment and technology”.

“This new model will provide the stimulus for the growth and development of this sector of air navigation services. We are talking about a new paradigm for young professionals; young air navigation service providers,” she added.    

Mrs Hanna Martin said CAD staff will be transferred from the public service to the Civil Aviation Authority, or a subsidiary company of the Authority, in accordance with their area of technical and administrative expertise.

She said that near the end of a one-year transitional period, transferred public officers will be offered formal appointment. If they accept, they will no longer have public service status.

Under the Airport Authority Amendment Act, the 28 airports currently owned by the Government and operated by the CAD will be transferred to the Airport Authority and fall under the remit of the Family Island airport department.

This, Mrs Hanna Martin said, would facilitate public-private partnerships (PPPs) for the redevelopment and modernisation of the Bahamas’ airport network.