Bill N° 930/PJL/AN submitted at the National Assembly yesterday July 1, 2013 seeks to put order in the ongoing legal chaos existing in Cameroon’s civil aviation sector.
Submitted to the constitutional laws committee by the Ministry by the Minister of Transport, Mr Robert Nkili, the bill’s purport is to empower air safety and security, acquire aeronautic radio navigation services, provide meteorological services to air transport, ease management of airports under concession, penalize defaulters of Cameroon’s airspace and align national regulations with civil aviation standards. If adopted, the bill would put in place a Civil Aviation Fund which will be used to finance civil aviation development projects, pay Cameroon’s dues in international civil aviation bodies and finance territorial development through air links bound by public service obligations. All these are aimed at organizing the exercise of civil aviation activities, promoting free competition and the participation of private initiatives as well as ensuring the rational and efficient use of aeronautic infrastructure and the airspace. Section 9 holds that “the state shall exercise its sovereignty over the airspace above its territory. It shall formulate the national policy on civil aviation in accordance with the provisions of international conventions and agreements”. Furthermore, section 11 of the bill stipulates that “civil aviation sector operators shall be bound to communicate statistical and financial data on their activities to relevant authorities under conditions laid down by regulation”. For this reason, an aeronautical register shall be opened and approved by the ministry in charge of civil aviation. In this regard, the bodies, personnel and equipment of aircrafts shall comprise: air transport operators, maintenance bodies, airport managers, air navigation service providers, safety companies, training centers, flying clubs, aeronautic technical personnel, air navigation installations and civilian aircrafts. According to the bill, the Civil Aviation Authority shall be funded with resources obtained from fees for services rendered, state subsidies, proceeds from the assignment of aeronautical property, gifts and legacies as well as any other resource that may be allocated to it. On its part, the Civil Aviation Fund mentioned in the bill is expected to develop the civil aviation and air routes. It would be funded with resources gathered from: a share of the proceeds from airport tax, a share of the proceeds from fines on civil aviation sector operators, state subsidies, gifts, legacies and any other resource that may be allocated to it. In sections 20 and 21, the bill is firm of the fact that, “an aircraft may be operational only if it has been registered” and that “all aircrafts registered in Cameroon aeronautical register shall have the Cameroonian nationality and must bear the national identification and registration marks provided for by the regulation”. This bill was prepared following the September 2006 audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of Cameroon’s civil aviation security supervision system. This system revealed several lapses in the outlook and spirit of the current legal instruments governing the sector in Cameroon. Before now, two laws regulated civil aviation in Cameroon. That is, law N° 63-LF-35 of November 5, 1963 to institute the Civil Aviation Code and law N° 98/23 of December 24, 1998 relating to civil aviation regulations.After receiving the bill, a plenary would be convened in the coming days by the President of the National Assembly to debate on its content and possible amendments. If adopted, the bill would be forwarded to the Senate for a second reading before getting to the President of the Republic for promulgation or rejection.Meantime, the second ordinary session of the National Assembly for the year 2013 continues to unfold as planned. Today July 3, a seminar on “legislative procedures in a bicameral parliament” is ongoing. It is aimed at drilling parliamentarians on the changes to be induced by the Senate.
