OPPOSITION member of Parliament Faiyaz Koya has called on the people doing development around airport areas to be mindful of the restrictions imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji.
He made the statement in Parliament last week while supporting Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Viliame Gavoka’s comments that open drains and standing water sources, waste disposal sites and rubbish dumps, fruit trees and crops near airport boundaries were factors that created habitats where birds congregated, increasing the likelihood of bird strikes during aircraft operations.
“We and all those people who want to develop in and around airport areas must be mindful that there will be restrictions,” Mr Koya said.
“They must adhere to it. You cannot flaunt it or flout it, and CAAF will come down very hard on those that do because birds especially, as rightfully pointed out by the honourable minister, are attracted to waste areas and attracted to fruit trees.
“You may think that it is all right to plant a fruit tree within a particular surrounding area of the airport and if we are looking at Nadi itself, that is quite a substantial area that you are looking at, that may affect our planes.
“We want to be ensuring that we do not come within those 1 million flights and 540, we want to keep it at zero.
“Waste is something that we look at and we think, “Oh, it’s OK too”, but that waste actually attracts birds, etcetera, and all different sorts of wildlife which will affect aviation safety.”
He sounded warning to those who live in and around the airport areas.
“If you want to build, if you are already there, please, be mindful that it is of critical importance that you remember this, because there are planes that are flying in and out and Fiji is becoming a fantastic destination where more and more bigger aircraft are flying in.”
