Work on the second phase of the Kotoka International Airport Development Project is to be completed this year at a cost of $77 million.

The project, involves the installation of navigational equipment and landing systems to improve passenger as well as ground safety and safety in the air.

In addition, a secondary surveillance radar with a range of 250 nautical miles, and additional capabilities for a short-term conflict alert system as well as a minimum safe altitude warning device, is to be installed.

The Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport, Mr K. Agyeman-Manu, stated this at the opening of a three-day air traffic co-ordination meeting of personnel of the Accra Flight Information Region (FIR) and neighbouring FIRs at the Accra International Conference Centre yesterday.

The meeting is being attended by 45 participants made up of representatives from the International Federation of Airline Pilots, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, Dakar Office, and the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Association. They are from Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Congo, and Angola.

The participants are expected to formulate modalities to maintain continuous and effective co-ordination within and between neighbouring FIRs and the entire African airspace.

Mr Agyeman-Manu said the government is fully aware of the vital link between civil aviation and economic development.

He explained that Ghana is prepared to co-operate fully through the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) with states and FIRs to resolve the problems with dispatch to enhance airspace co-ordination and sefety.

Mr Agyeman-Manu said globally, the aviation industry has gone through trying times, adding that African airlines, particularly, are beset with a myriad of problems that militate against efficient, profitable and, sometimes, safe operations.

The problems, he said, include weak institutional structures, weak financial positions, mismanagement and inappropriate equipment, adding that, “these deficiencies are compounded by the lack of effective co-ordination within and between neighbourimg FIRs, which endanger search and rescue operations”.

According to him, the problems have been exacerbated by the September 11 attacks in the United States of America (USA), which have brought bigger and even more efficient and better resourced airlines virtually to their knees.

He stated further that security concerns have now become paramount as security regulatory requirements will be more stringent and several of these measures will be applied to African carriers and nations, especially if they are to maintain or obtain various accreditation.

"The number of recent ongoing airport development or rehabilitation projects in Africa, especially in the West African sub-region, including KIA, clearly attests to this fact," he said.

He said the projects are being carried out “with the view to positioning civil aviation authorities to perform their safety oversight functions more effectively”. In his welcoming address, the acting Director General of the GCAA, Captain Joe Boachie, said the International Civil Aviation Organisation has been doing all in its power to ensure the achievement of safe skies all over Africa through its regional air navigation and other plans.

He said it is because of its commitment to promote safety in the skies that the meeting is being held to discuss and adopt measures to mitigate identified short-comings pertaining to safety and cooperation among all states..

A representative of the ICAO, Dakar Office, Mrs Mary Obeng, said the organisation of the seminar at a time when air transport has increased in the sub-region and Africa in general is very crucial and offers the needed opportunity to address problems in the industry.