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The Opposition Whip of Parliament, Hon. Hassan Sesay has said in Freetown that air tickets in Sierra Leone are very expensive as compared to other countries in the sub-region and across the world. He said the airline companies are blaming the government for high taxation.
He made this statement during the debate on the government motion on Service Agreement between Government of Sierra Leone the Federal Republic of Germany, Government of Zimbabwe, Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom of Moroco Memorandum of Understanding between GoSL and Zimbabwe that were ratified by Members of Parliament.
He said liberalization of the airspace will bring more aircrafts to fly in and out of Sierra Leone open the airspace.
He said government will not be able to provide enough employment for its citizens except through the intervention of the private sector, noting that the agreements will boost. Investment in the country. He called on the airline companies that will be coming to train more Sierra Leoneans.
In his contribution the Oversight Committee Chairman on Transport and Aviation, Hon. Maada Lebbe said the agreements are not controversial and it has no financial burden on Sierra Leone. He said the above agreements have been signed for decades without beep ratified. He said the agreement will bring in more goodies including international trade, investment labour, free trade, and jobs. He said Sierra Leone is part of 1944 Chicago International Civil Organisation for Aviation.
According to the New Vision Newspaper, iIn a similar intervention, the Chief whip of Parliament said that the agreements will bring more development in the country. He said they will be coming to the country to be of topmost quality, noting that most of the aircrafts flying in Europe are safer as compared to those coming in to Africa but the agreements will address that. He said the details of the agreement should not remain on paper but should be fully implemented.
He agreed that the air tickets in Sierra Leone is expensive, stating the agreement will also address it. In his response, Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation, Mr. Rex Bhohapha said the negotiations of the agreement were done from the position of strengthen. He said air tickets are expensive because of limited flights coming into the country. He said they ensure quality assurance, noting that the Ministry has established accident bureau in the Civil Aviation.
