BUJUMBURA, September 12th (ABP) – The MPs of the lower house of parliament met on Thursday, September 5, 2024, in plenary session at the Kigobe hemicycle, to analyze and adopt the bill on the ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against International Civil Aviation, signed on September 10, 2010, in Beijing.
Among the clarification questions addressed to the guest of the day, the Minister in charge of Transport Mrs. Marie Chantal Nijimbere, the deputies wanted to know when the department in charge of providing courses especially in international civil aviation law within the University of Burundi will be set up.
Minister Nijimbere replied that for this, a cost-benefit analysis would be needed which should be done by the University of Burundi. Once the University plans to set up a department in charge of providing courses especially in international civil aviation law, it will have to comply with the relevant regulations, in particular the regulation on civil aviation training schools, she said.
The MPs also wanted to know what is being done to develop the air transport sector in Burundi, whereupon, Mrs. Nijimbere explained that several projects are underway. In order to modernize the Melchior Ndadaye International Airport, the work of the first phase has just been sensitized by the Head of State Evariste Ndayishimiye.
Regarding the Bugendana International Airport construction project, she said that feasibility studies have been carried out and that the government encourages initiatives under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, with a view to carrying out that project. He added that his ministry plans to build the Kabamba airfield in the commune of Gashikanwa in Ngozi province.
In that regard, Mrs. Nijimbere assured, the expropriation and compensation of the former owners were carried out to the tune of more than 800 million Burundian francs in 2019. While waiting for the availability of funds for the construction of that airfield, the land has been lent to the municipal administration of Mwumba for the agricultural exploitation of seasonal crops, she noted.
Regarding equipment, Minister Nijimbere explained that, as part of the cooperation with the People’s Republic of China, an MA60 aircraft had been donated to Burundi. Unfortunately, she said, that aircraft was found non-operational because of its lack of oxygen masks on all seats.
Only 13 out of 52 seats are equipped with them, while national and international standards require them on all seats to be able to help all passengers breathe in the event of a failure of the aircraft pressurization system at high altitude, explained the minister responsible for transport.
With a view to resensitizing air operations in Burundi, she said that the national air campaign, Burundi Airlines, is looking for a strategic partner that will allow it to operate flights and therefore accommodate not only aircraft, but also the necessary financial and human resources. After exchanges and debates, the draft law on the ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against International Civil Aviation, signed on 10 September 2010 in Beijing, was unanimously adopted.