FAAN, Bi-Courtney ICRC moves to resolve concession disputes.
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission ( ICRC ) said on Monday that
it will deploy everything within its ability to ensure the concession
dispute between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN ) and
Bi-Courtney Aviation Services is resolved.
The
Commission, which is saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and
ensuring the efficient execution of all A Public-Private Partnership
(PPP) projects entered into by MDAs on behalf of the Federal Government
said it has continued to engage Hadi Sirika, the Minister of State on
Aviation since his assumption of office on these challenges and believe
they will be resolved soon enough in order to strengthen the
relationship between the parties.
Recall
that the MMA2 and the Hotel and Conference Centre concessions awarded
to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited as a PPP project for the
design, engineering, procurement, construction, completion,
commissioning, operations and transfer has been experiencing several
challenges.
The
terminal which took off in 2007 was given out in concession by FAAN, as
representative of the federal government on Build, Operate and Transfer
(BOT) basis, but while BASL insists that the concession agreement was
for 36 years and that the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) belongs to the
company in cognizance of the agreement, FAAN insists that it did not
endorse 36 years for the concession but 12 years and that GAT was not
part of the agreement.
Speaking
during a visit by the commission to MMA2, yesterday, Chidi Izuwah,
acting Director General ICRC said he was aware of the challenges between
the both parties adding that “We want to listen to both parties as an
independent regulator, we want to physically access the situation and
challenges on ground in order to Bette appreciate the positions by FAAN
and Bi-Courtney and thereafter suggest possible line of action in
resolving these issues.
“We
are interested in having an update from the parties on the performance
of the related projects; we want to understand the challenges facing the
operators, as well as the grantor of the contracts and the various
steps taken towards resolving these challenges; we want to hear from the
parties their requests to the government in ensuring the projects are
efficiently implemented for the overall benefits to the government.”
Also
speaking during the visit, Wale Babalakin, Chairman , Bi-Courtney
Aviation Services said if Nigeria intends to encourage private sector
participation in the infrastructural development of the country it must
abide by international regulations; government and its agencies must
respect and abide by concession agreements.
Babalakin
denied the allegation that it was Bi-Courtney that drafted the
concession agreement and also noted that the company was not the winner
of the concession, but Royal Standerton, which was the preferred bidder;
however, Bi-Courtney inherited the concession when the later could not
meet the pace of work expected by the federal government.
Also
speaking on behalf of FAAN, Monica Alphonse, the Deputy General
Manager, Public Private Partnership, said that GAT has never been part
of the concession agreement and that the monopoly status that stated
that no other airport terminal should be developed during the course of
the concession period by BASL may have taken cognizance of the fact that
the concession was for 12 years.
Alphonse
described such clauses that gave BASL such advantage as antitrust and
pro-monopoly, adding that the agreement should have been renegotiated if
the concession was designed for 36 years and noted, that “such
agreement is repugnant to natural justice.”
She
said that FAAN was willing to ensure that the problem between it and
BASL over the concession was resolved. BASL officials also spoke in the
same vein.
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