Why ban on Slok stays, by Minister
RESPITE may come the way of the embattled Slok Airlines only after it rectifies the anomalies for which it was banned, Malam Isa Yuguda, the Aviation Minister disclosed in his office in Abuja on Wednesday. He told traditional rulers from the South East who called on him, that the airline's compliance with the rules and regulations of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) was part of the criteria required for the restoration of its operating licence.
He said that government was withholding the licence because the airline had violated safety and security standards and not for any political reason, as was being insinuated.
Yuguda said that the company was engaged in unethical practices, contrary to the terms of its operating licence and that government had no other option than to suspend its operations, Agency reports said.
"Government will not fold its hands and watch any airline break the rules and violate the law of the land with ignominy until when something very disastrous happens," Yuguda explained.
"Slok breached safety regulations and other aviation laws and I cannot sit and watch the airline do that without enforcing the rules," the Minister said.
He warned airlines operating in the country to adhere to safety and security regulations or risk facing sanctions.
"All airlines operating in and out of the nation's airspace must comply with set standards, since they deal with human lives on a daily basis," he said.
Slok Airline was registered in 2003 and began operation in February 2004.
Operations of Slok and IRS Airlines were suspended on March 2, 2004, over what aviation authorities described as safety oversight.
But the ban on IRS Airlines was lifted a week later while that on Slok is yet to be lifted.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation and Chairman of Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Ezo Ukandu, had said that they were in Abuja to appeal to the government to lift the ban on Slok Airlines.
Ukandu said that government should be magnanimous and consider the fate of more than 2,000 workers and their dependants.
He said the continued ban of the airline's operation was sending wrong signal to the populace that the ban was politically motivated.
