Minister steps in to allay CAA workers’ fears

Rafique calls meeting on Sunday in Lahore to discuss outsourcing of airports

LAHORE:

 

Aviation and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has called a meeting on July 30 (Sunday) in Lahore to discuss the reservations raised over the outsourcing of airports.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) representatives have been invited to the huddle as it was its employees who had opposed the outsourcing of the airports.
The office-bearers of CAA employees’ organisations, including Samiullah, Aziz Memon, Ayaz Butt, Ashraf Waheed and others will participate in the meeting.

The minister will listen to the reservations raised by the CAA associations’ representatives during the huddle.

The CAA employees will inform the minister about their concerns.

A day earlier, the CAA employees announced launching a “massive protest” against the government’s decision to outsource the operations and land assets of three major airports, threatening to halt the authority’s operations.

The authorities have started the outsourcing process at Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad airports to be run through a public-private partnership – a move meant to generate foreign exchange reserves.

On Thursday, the CAA unions – Akai and Jaca – launched a protest at the arrival lounge of the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.

Later, the union members gathered on the airport’s main road in the form of a rally.

The protesters argued that entrusting airport operations to external entities posed a threat to national security and defense infrastructure.

They added that they could not compromise on the safety and sovereignty of the airports and the country.

Addressing the participants of the rally, Akai Secretary General Samiullah maintained that the CAA director general had “destroyed” the institution.

He vowed to fight a “legal war” against the government’s move, maintaining that the CAA was not receiving any significant amount from the process of outsourcing.

He recalled that the CAA had earned Rs150 billion last year while pointing out that the institution had the potential to gain Rs500 billion.

Jaca Central President Aziz Memon also pledged that they would challenge the government’s act at every forum, including the courts, adding that a protest on a large scale was being organised at the Islamabad International Airport on Aug 8 that would be extended to Karachi and Lahore.

The protesters warned that they would utilise all options, including halting the CAA operations, if the process to outsource airports was not stopped.