soomaalia
Thursday, 16 May 2013 22:23
When the Somali federal government announced Monday that it was preparing to take control of its airspace by the end of the year, it was largely hailed as a positive move indicative of Somalia's continued progress in security and stability.
Soon after the announcement, however, the Somaliland administration took issue with how the federal government and the United Nations came to the agreement and in retaliation banned all UN flights to and from its airport beginning Wednesday (May 15th).
The United Nations took over responsibility for managing Somalia's airspace 19 years ago following the collapse of the central government, and in 1996 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation jointly established the Nairobi-based Civil Aviation Caretaker Authority of Somalia (CACAS) to collect over-flight revenues for Somalia.
The CACAS has collected millions of dollars on behalf of Somalia, said Abdirahman Said Aden, former director of the administration department in Somalia's Ministry of Transport.
"Unfortunately those funds were not used for infrastructure development and repair of the country's airports, or the implementation of a training programme for the national staff at the Somali Aviation Authority. Instead, the Civil Aviation Caretaker Authority of Somalia was using those funds," Aden told Sabahi.
Previous transitional governments tried to regain control of the country's airspace, but the CACAS was reluctant to transfer authority to Somalia, he said.
In 2010, former Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke sent a formal request to the United Nations seeking to regain control of Somalia's airspace for the first time in 15 years, Aden said. Former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who replaced Sharmarke, also sought control of the country's airspace in April 2011.
Both requests were not successful, however, because previous transitional governments did not have the international recognition and support that the current government has.
Somalia's Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications Abdullahi Ilmoge Hirsi announced the government's successful negotiations after meeting with UNDP and CACAS officials on Monday.
More than 100 airspace management staff will be relocated from Nairobi to Mogadishu in preparation for the transition, and in-country staff will be trained during the remainder of the year.
"The Somali Civil Aviation Meteorology Authority (SCAMA) will prepare and choose competent people needed to do this task that is important to both the state and its sovereignty," general manager of SCAMA Ali Mohamoud Ibrahim told Sabahi.
"The Somali government will receive control of the airspace within seven months as the conversion process smoothly begins from the Jomo Kenyatta [International Airport] in Nairobi to Mogadishu's [Aden Adde] International Airport at the beginning of June to be complete by the end of this year," Ibrahim said.
Move may hinder talks between Somalia, Somaliland region
Somalia's move to assume full control of its airspace is a historic achievement for the country, said Mogadishu-based political analyst Masood Ahmed Guled. However, he cautioned the federal government about upsetting the Somaliland and Puntland regional administrations.
"There is a need to convince the regional administrations such as Somaliland and Puntland because they are essential partners in the process of airspace management in the country," Guled told to Sabahi. "Otherwise the process will lead to fuelling conflict between the Somali parties, and subject the fragile gains made on the negotiations [between Somalia and the Somaliland region] to collapse."
The Somaliland administration on Tuesday responded to the Somali government's move by banning UN flights from landing at or taking off from its airports.
"This step harms the ongoing talks between Somaliland and Somalia," said Minister of Civil Aviation and Air Transport for the Somaliland region Mahmoud Hashi Abdi. "Somaliland is an independent state, and therefore cannot accept that the federal government controls Somaliland airspace. Mogadishu does not govern us nor does it represent us."
Somaliland unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but has not achieved recognition by Somalia and the international community.
During a press conference held at the Hargeisa International Airport, Abdi condemned UNDP for its alleged non-neutrality and siding with Somalia, and also accused the CACAS of violating an earlier agreement between Somalia, UNDP and the Somaliland administration.
"The plan was for the ministries of aviation of Somaliland and Somalia to meet with the United Nations in Nairobi in June to discuss who will be responsible for air control," Director General of the Somaliland Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air Transport Ahmed Dalal Farah told Sabahi. "Unfortunately, UNDP did not consult us on this new decision because the agreement was to consult on what is jointly owned."
Ibrahim, the general Manager of the Somali Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority, declined to comment on Somaliland's position.
"I do not want to comment on political attitudes, but I would like everyone to know that the airspace belongs to the Somali people. As this issue is not a political issue, it is a service, and its benefit will come back to all Somalis," he said.
Somalia has seven international airports operating in Mogadishu, Kismayo, Galkayo, Garowe, Bosaso, Berbera and Hargeisa, with 20 flights taking off and landing daily in Mogadishu alone.