Crash: Why Dana Air is yet to pay $70,000 compensation OLUSEGUN KOIKI
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he Dlrector-General of the Nigerian CiyU Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demure" }"eSteniay
M-ea1ed why the management of Dana Air is )"Ct to pay the mandatory balance or $70, (XX) 10 the
famllies of the air accident al UuIshaga area of Lagos on June 3, 2012. Demuren also dlsclosed that not all the families of the crash had n!Celved the initial payment 0( SJO,OOJ 35 stipulated by the In· lernaUonaJ Civil Aviation Organ-
tsatlon (ICAD). He I"e\'ealed that 80 famUies hm-e so far received the manda·
lory $30,(0) whHe the others are yet to do so due to SORle interna.l problems in their families and insisted that infants must be gh-ell the same amount given to adult victims in the crash. Speaking to some ol the berem"ed frunllies til the NCAA headquarters In Lagos. Demuren explained that the remaining balance of $70, (XX) Is being insured abroad. saying that for any famUy to gellhe remainmg anlOWlt, such ......ould submit a letter of administration from the probate reglstJ): v.'hlch is expected to eman..11e from the Lagos State Gov·
ernment. Be howe\"('r lnformed thai the Lagos State Govt>rrunent had
been supporth·'C In Ut1s aspect, but are thai the agency v.'OUld ensure that the letters are fast tracked to ensure prompt pay.
ment of the money to the rightful families. He emphasized that the Insur· ance companies of the airline had assun!d severally that the money was bltact. but could only be paJd when the letter is present· ed by the fammes. He infomled that sloce the unfortunate crash. whlch elaimed the lli-es of 153 passengers and crew members onboard and another 10 people on ground, the regulatory agency had mel thrice with the vtcUms' familles and 5e\""en limes with the lawyers of the airline on how the remainlng fWlds could be pald without muchdelalr: He said, wWhen we start hav· ing problems about the claims we caruKlt live the families of the victims or the vk:tirn5 alone, this is a family assistant programme of \\-"hat can we do to assist them so that they can get the smallest thIng that Is available under the law; 11lere are some familles that had received tile 30,(0) dollars first tranche of compensation, but nobody had gotten the 70,(0) dollars, which Is the second tranche because this is beblg reinsured abroad. WAnd now to get that one, it would require a letter of admln· istration from the probate reg. isU"% whIch would have to come from the Lagos State Govt!rn· ment and governor Babatunde F'ashola of Lagos State has been \W)' gracious, very SUPllOl'tlng in tills case. We want to see how we can fast track lhe issuance of the letters of administration for
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L-fl: CoordiMtor, Elhlop&. SIHr1ng CommIttH. ExtractIYe Indu,trI., Tra.nspllrency tnftiathre, Mr IY"l1 VIm...-; AI;:Ung, EJ:ecuu.. SecrelMV, Dr, Og~ OrJl and Clwlnn.n. Mr. Ledum Mit", during 1M Ethlopl.,..'s wtsl1lo NEm In AbuJ-, y.slSt"d.y. PHOTO: NA.H
Agric minister calls for AMCON funding for agriculture MESHACK IOEHEN
heMintsterof Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwuml Adeslna, has called OIl tile Asset Management Company (M'ICON), to finanoe the agr:Icultw-al sector through long term bonds. Furthermore. the minister saJd .....Ith the Agricultural Transfonnatlon lo Nigerta that opportunities fOl' banks and other stakeholders lo economic di""erSlflcation abounds. and that stakeholders should consider ralslog long term bonds to fi· nance the agricultural sector. A statement made available to National Mirror on Thursday by the Special Assistant on Media to the r.Untster. Dr, Kayode Oyel·
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BP to get record US criminal fine over Deepwater oil spill ritish Petroleum is set to receive a record nne of bet.....een $3bUUoll and ISbn (t1.9bn·£3.2bn) to seWe crlmln.al charges related 10 the 2010 .Deepwaier Horizon disas· ter, the BBC has said It will be the biggest crimi· nal penalty in US history, ac· cord1nK to the British BroodcasUlll/ Corporatioll. The settlement with the De· partment of Justice Involves DP pleading guilty to c.rlminal charses. It is thought that up to four DP staff may be arrested. ac·
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cordlng to the BBC, Details of the settlement are expected to be conOrmed by the Washington-based Depart· ment of Justice later. Earlier. BP said it was in "ad vanced discussions" with US agencies about se>tUlng crimi· nal and ol herclaims. DP said that any deal would not include a range of other claims including Individual aDd federal claims for damages under the Clean Water Act, and state claims for econom ic loss. The 2010 Deepwater Hor17.on disaster kWed 11 workers and
released millions of barrels of crude Into the Guif of Mexico over 87 days. The settlement Is much big· ger than the previous COnklrate criminal penalty assessed by the Department of Justice, the $1.2bllllon fine Imposed on drug maker pfizer In 2009. The 011 gianl has been sell· inlt assets worth billions of pounds to raise money to settle all claims. The comJ)3ny Is ex· pected to make a final payment of S860tnUllon Into the $2Obil· lion Gulf of Mexico compensa· tion fund br the end of the year.
eye. said longer term funding fOl' the agriculture 9I!Ctor wUl go a long towards sustained economic
grow1h.
.....,...
According to the minister; MAMCON has O\"er N3trn in frnKis. whUe the pension funds also have billions of naira looking for sound in\'eShnents. The rising domestic debt Is certaloiy of concern. However: this should not be used to argue agablst agriculture bonds. Many coun· tries In Ule world are using the so-called green bonds to po.....er their agriculture, includlog Chi· naand India WAs we modernise agriculture and raise profitability In tile sec· tor through weU-ooord1nated ago ricultw-al value chains, AMCON and pension flUtds can buy agri· cultural bonds to further d!\-er· sify their portfolios and provide access to lo.....er interest and long term financing for Ule sector: Deve10pment finance institutions can also finance long term bonds for agriculture". The mlolster also advocated II combined effort of Nigerian banks towards agricultural fi· nancing lo order to boost gov. ernment efforts in the sector, alla)-m the fears of tile rmaJ1clal houses. WI want to assure tile finan· cial community thai desl)i!e the floods. Nigeria wUl not experi enet' a famine or fooll crlsls. We have put In place a robust flood 1"l!CO\"ery food production plan. whleh will produce at Il!3St an additional 1.4 million tonnes d
TIle rnlnlster expla1ned in the statement. that NI98.173 billlon has been disbursed by about 19 participating banks out of the totalar N2OObUlIon that lsavallable from the debt financing r-al.!ie>d by the Debt Management Office as at July 2(112. According to him, Ute ministry has come a long way on the agri. cultural transformation agenda, saying also U13.t the time for ac· celerated effort to consolidate the galos in the sector is no~ "The Agricultural Transfor· maUon agenda cannot succeed without adequate Onanclng. we must create inno\'ativt! finan· clal Instruments to address the needs of the agricultural sector, considering the dlfTerent needs along the agricultural value chains. We must urgently build the capacity of the banks to lend to agriculture. "Danks should set up run and well·staffed agricultural lend· Ing departments. The Nigerian Bank of Agriculture needs 10 be restructured and then recapl· tallsed to accelerate lending to agrlcultul"C at slngle-dlgit Inter· est rates. While government Is dolog Its best to make available low Interest funds for banks 10 access, banks should ensure that they pass on these fWlds at 10..... and affordable Interest rates to the agricultural sector", the minister added.
FAAN issues ultimatum to remove abandoned aircraft at airports OL.USEGUN KOIKI
lr the wl1Pteeflth. lime. 0,. management d the federal Airports Authority rI Nt· ...... (FAAN). ".lenIny issued another one month ultimatwn 10 the oytners rI abandoned alra"aft parked at various airports lo tile country to re!TIO\'e them or risked been oonOscated. The General Manager. Cor-
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pornte Colllmunications. FAAN. Mr. Yakubu Dati, said that the latest ultlmatwn was necessary in order to rid the airports of wlused alrcrafl. [)aU explalned ti13.t the author· ity was coostralned to embark on the exercise because owners ~ the abandoned aln::rnfl h3\-e del.l.bcrately refused to 1'Cl00\'e them despite all efforts made FAAN to nlake them do !lO, adding that the management had seveml meet·
lngs with dJel:n aU to no avail Dati In a statement signed stat· ed that Ule presence d the aoon doned alrcrafl withbl tile airports negates the spirit of the current aviatioo master plan 0( the federal Gu\'eJ"lUnenl. lie stated. "TIlls exercise has become necessary because these aircrafl consUtute a serious safety hazard on the alrslde, apart from being an eyesore at l1'Iege airports, as some 0( these alra"aft hm'e
rice to compensate fOl' losses we have suffered, and an additional SOO,IXX) tonnes or maIze In the dry
been abandoned for upwards of 10 rears. -rlIe authortty Is constrained to embark on this removal ex· ercise because 0Y0'JlC.n ~ these abandoned aircraft have deliberately refused to re!1"IO\'e them despite aU eITorts made by the AuthorilY to make diem do.5O, in· c1uding meetings with the owners and publication d paid notices in various newspapers In ti.e past
fu'eyears. ..
lie noted that SOOIe of the own· ers of these abancloned aln:rafl had taken FAAN to court O\U this issue and got court lnjunc· lion5 that made It dlfficuJt for the authority tocarryout Itsexerrlse before 00\\', stressing timt some d these cases had now been con eluded hence the commencement 0{ the retnO\-a.l exercise.. Oat! in the statement called on tile owners of abandoned air· craft to J"e1'l1O\'e them from all the airports within tile stipulated period.