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Dr Joram Gumbo

Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
THE unbundling of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) will go a long way towards upgrading its operations to international standards and ensuring good governance and efficiency, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joram Gumbo has said.

Responding to questions in Parliament last week where the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe Bill was being discussed as part of efforts to give legal effect to the planned CAAZ unbundling, Minister Gumbo said the country was following the best practice in the world.

Government is in the process of unbundling CAAZ into two entities. One entity will be responsible for regulatory issues, while the other will be in charge of commercial operations, as Government seeks to improve efficiency in the running of airports and regulations of the air industry.

The new entities expected to emerge from the unbundling are the Zimbabwe Civil Aviation Authority and Airports Company of Zimbabwe.

“I want to point out that what we are doing now to unbundle the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe is to follow the best practice worldwide. It is not that we are inventing the wheel but this is the way other authorities are regulated in order to have that distinction between the regulatory section and the management section.

“We’re following the world trend of separating the management side of airport issues and the regulatory section of issues at our airports. We are just trying to move with what the world is also doing,” said Minister Gumbo.

He said putting everything in one basket was causing a lot of conflict when situations of management and regulation are at play.

“I’m sure we’re aware that at one time at the Harare International Airport, there was an incident when one of our planes hit some animals and it was an issue. When we come to such situations, you can see the need why internationally it has been recommended that there must be separation of powers because the CAAZ would then investigate itself.

“If there is a regulatory side and there is a management side, the issues can be separated,” said Minister Gumbo.

He added that the recent Presidential visit to China saw the Government signing a $153 million loan framework with the Government of China for the rehabilitation of Harare International Airport.

“Regarding the air navigation area, there are negotiations at the moment with a company that was awarded a tender to install the navigation system. This is something we’re working on at the moment and that should not stop us from unbundling CAAZ.

“Neighbouring countries like South Africa are doing what we are recommending at the moment. There is no separation of those services or responsibilities that we are doing right now. Many other countries are also doing what we are proposing to do for now,” said Minister Gumbo.

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