Cabinet approves the draft of 'Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority Law, 2016'

"The cabinet approved the (draft) Bangladesh Civil Aviation Law, 2016" to replace the existing Bangladesh Civil Aviation Ordinance 1985 . . . also to fulfill the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)," Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told newsmen in a briefing, emerging from the meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

He said the draft law suggested some corrections and modifications in the existing ordinance, which was also required to be redrafted along with a Bengali version in line with a Supreme Court order that had earlier declared illegal all ordinances, promulgated during the past martial law regimes.

Alam said according to the draft law, the Civil Aviation Authority would be formed with the chairman as its head along with six members and all of them would be appointed by the government.

The draft law authorized the chairman to convene a CAAB meeting whenever he or she wishes while the quorum would be fulfilled with the attendance of at least three of its members, he said.

He said a high-powered governing body would also be formed under the law to oversee CAAB operations and policy-level decisions particularly on financial matters with the concerned minister, state minister or the deputy minister as its chairman.

Alam said the secretary of the civil aviation ministry would become the ex-officio vice chairman of the governing body while CAAB chairman would discharge duties as its member- secretary.

Secretaries of the related ministries including land, defence, relief and disaster management, finance, legislative and parliament, home and health and the national revenue board (NBR) chairman will be members of the governing body.

The cabinet secretary said the Civil Aviation Authority would get all the power to deal with the issues regarding air traffic management like providing aeronautical communication services at the civil air bases of the country, flight inspection, enquiry and rescue.

Besides, he said, the Authority would also provide services to the aircraft, crashed or damaged, at any airport or air base of the country, ensure security, protect civil flight operations as well as ensure management of the property under the Civil Aviation Authority.

"It (CAAB) could realize premium, service charge, rent and royalty from those who would use its property alongside security fees as well as other fees subject to prior approval from the government," Alam said.

The CAAB, he said, would develop its fund with government's grants, loan, foreign aid and loan to be received with prior approval of the government and income earned through selling bonds also with prior approval of the government.

The cabinet today also approved in principle the draft of the "The Accreditation Council Law , 2016" in a bid to ensure expected standard of higher education in the country and thus upgrade the higher educational institutions to international standards.

"It's an epoch-making law to bring the public and public universities into a certain standard," Alam said adding that the council would be entrusted with the task of ensuring qualitative standards of higher education by the higher educational institutions.

The council, he said, would to accredit operations of higher educational institutions, determine the conditions of issuing "accreditation and confidence certificates" and if necessary could also scrap them.

Alam said that the council would be comprised of 11 members including a chairman, one full-time member from the regulatory University Grants Commission (UGC), four professors, one additional secretary of the education ministry, one representative from the Association of Universities of Bangladesh, representatives from the professionals, quality assurance and accreditation expert, and the apex body of the country's business chambers, FBCCI.

The chairman and members would be appointed by the government, he said.

Under the law, the cabinet secretary said, rules would be formulated to deal with the issues like application process of accreditation certificates, approval of the applications or their denial, legality and cancellation of the accreditation certificates.

He said that as per the section 17 of the draft law, any aggrieved person or institution could seek the council's intervention to redress their grievances.

Under the section 19 of the law, Alam said, no educational institution could publish advertisement or prospectus that it is accredited without getting the accreditation certificate and they might lose the accreditation certificate for defiance of the proposed law.

The cabinet meeting, he said, today also approved a proposal for formation of "The Container Company of Bangladesh Ltd" to run Bangladesh Railway Container Transportation Services through an independent company.

He said the move aimed at making the container service sustainable and such companies existed as profit making entities in many countries including neighbouring India.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) earlier suggested Bangladesh to float such a state-run entity bring the railway container system under a company to make container business sustainable.

The cabinet secretary said there would be a 10-member board of directors for running the company and it would be formed comprising a chairman, vice-chairman, a managing director and seven directors.

The railways secretary would act as the president of the board of directors as the ex-officio and the managing director would be appointed from private sector.

Alam said the meeting decided that the additional director general (operations) of Bangladesh railway would start the operation of the company initially as the managing director of the company until arrangements were made for appointing an exclusive MD of the entity within an year.

He said the authorised capital of the company would be Taka 400 crore, while the paid up capital would be Tk 10,000,1001.

"The company will be established under 100 percent government ownership and the price of its every share has been fixed at Tk 100," Alam said.

Today's cabinet meeting, he said, was apprised of the participation of a Bangladesh delegation led by the Local government minister in a high-level ministerial meeting of the Sanitation and Water for All held in Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on March 15-16 last.

At the outset of the meeting, the cabinet adopted a thanksgiving motion on the inclusion of the name of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the annual list of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders by US magazine, "Fortune".

The Bangladesh premier has been ranked No. 10 on the list.

Ministers and state ministers concerned attended the meeting, while secretaries concerned were present.