The National Association of Nigeria
Travel Agencies (NANTA) on Thursday urged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA) to give utmost support to its members to deliver qualiltative service to
the travelling public.
Member of the NANTA National
Executive Council, Mr Bankole Bernard made the call during the symposium
session of the association’s 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Kano.
The AGM had the theme: “Antitrust:
Opportunities Available for Protection of the Nigeria Travel Market.”
Bernard said that although NANTA had
enjoyed some level of support from NCAA which had been its major regulator over
the years, more needs to be done by the Authority.
He said there had been issues of
which organisation bears the Value Added Tax (VAT) of businesses done by
members of the association.
“The debate of who bears the VAT had
been between NANTA and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which
NCAA ought to have resolved,” Bernard said.
He noted that NANTA being a
downstream sector in the aviation industry must be carried along in major decision
making in the industry to enable members deliver qualitative services to
customers.
“This and a whole lot of issues had
been on ground which the NCAA must wade into promptly, travel agents should be
given access into the airports because we are also registered members of the
NCAA and not louts.
“NANTA is a downstream sector in the
aviation industry, our regulators should have indepth understanding of our
operations including the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission
(FCCPC).
“We need our regulators to protect
us so that we can protect our consumers, we seek more protection to operate
optimally.
“We want our regulators to ensure
our needs are met to ensure the interest of the consumers are protected because
we are the right channel through which consumers’ interest can be protected,”
he said.
In his response, Capt. Musa Nuhu,
NCAA Director-General, assured NANTA of the Authority’s support.
Nuhu explained that a lot had been
done to protect the interest of NANTA members, without the notice of the
general public.
“We will find lasting solutions to
most of the issues raised, we need to work together as a team to proffer
solutions to the issues on ground.
“We will be having a quarterly
meeting with our stakeholders in the industry and look at how we can develop a
committee to resolve issues and the next meeting will hold in 2 weeks time.
“We need to maintain the proficiency
and efficiency of the industry, so that investors in the industry can
yield the benefits of their investments while we maintain the laws of the land.
“We also need your suport, we cannot
do it alone, we are only business enablers and we are partners in progress,” he
said.
Also, Mr Babatunde Irukera,
Director-General, FCCPC, said Nigeria is endowed with a robust aviation
industry but with an immature market.
He added that NANTA had a lot to do
in ensuring that the market improved.
Irukera, however, urged NANTA to
intensify efforts to engage government and other regulatory bodies to make the
aviation market thrive optimally.
Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, NANTA National
President, disclosed that NCAA had given approval to the
association to set up a compliance committee to observe and monitor travel
agents’ operations in order to curb illegal activities.
According to her, the compliance
committee will ensure the protection of laws.
By - Admin
By - Admin
By - Admin