A comprehensive restructuring of the Civil Aviation Department is in the works. It will see the establishment of two separate entities as part of government???s long-term plan for the department.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Sealy, made this disclosure today, during the official ground breaking ceremony to commence construction of the new Civil Aviation Building at Charnocks, Christ Church.
The Minister said the regulatory entity will be a statutory organisation that will function as the Barbados Civil Aviation Authority; while the operational entity will remain under the purview of the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, and ???will consist of air navigation services together with the Barbados Civil Aviation Training Centre???.
The purpose of the restructuring, Mr. Sealy said, was to ensure that Barbados attained compliance with the International Civil Aviation Authority Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices contained in the 18 annexes of the Chicago Convention and the US Federal Aviation Administration???s (FAA???s) International Aviation Assessment Audit. The restructuring will pave the way for Barbados to move from the present Category Two to Category One status.
???This is a big part of what the international organisations are asking for. We can???t, in essence, have an entity regulating itself, so we had to do that separation. The Ministry has presented its case for upgrading and establishing, at the very least, key posts that will allow Barbados to fill these basic requirements of ICAO and also the Federal Aviation Administration, as we work towards a ???full scale??? review to meet the expectations of ICAO and FAA as well as current trends in civil aviation,??? Mr. Sealy added.
The new building, which is expected to cost over $10 million dollars, will be completed in 14 months.
julie.carrington@barbados.gov.bb