Caption: Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, second right, with Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo after signing a Bilateral Air Services Agreement between T&T and Nigeria. Looking on are Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Dr. Amery Browne, right, and Minister in the Ministry of Works and Transport Richie Sookhai
By Prior Beharry
MINISTER of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan wanted a bilateral air services agreement signed between Trinidad and Tobago and Nigeria before the April 28, 2025 general elections.
He was speaking at the VIP Lounge of the Piarco International Airport on Monday for the signing of a Bilateral Air Services Agreement between T&T and Nigeria.
Present were Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Dr. Amery Browne, Minister in the Ministry of Works and Transport Richie Sookhai, and former chairman of the Standing Negotiating Committee on Air Services Agreements Anthony Vieira, SC.
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Sinanan said, “When I told my permanent secretary this has to be signed, she said, ‘Minister, it’s election time and it’s not possible to have this done.’ I said, ‘Make it happen.’”
“And the permanent secretary came to me about two weeks ago and she said the minister agreed that he will come. I said, ‘Whatever day the minister wants to come, as long as it’s before the 28th of April, I am available.’”
He said, “Because of the amount of work that went into this, I was not going to leave this for anybody else to sign.”
Sinanan said, “These agreements take a long time. We have some agreements that took 30 years because once you have a government change, you have a policy change, as what may be a priority for one government may not be a priority for the other.”
He said, “The government of Trinidad and Tobago is very serious about the aviation sector because our geographic location allows us to capitalize on both the aviation and maritime sectors.”
Sinanan noted that similar agreements have been signed with Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands, with 15 additional Air Services Agreements to be signed in the next few years.
He said, “So, you could use Trinidad as a hub, you could use Nigeria as a hub, and the gateway to the world is open.”
Keyamo said, “We are going to work very hard on our part to set the deadlines to begin the route and we encourage you to work very hard to set your deadlines.”
He added, “We are going to look back and see the airlines that have the capacity to start on this route immediately. We are all due to go back home and start this route immediately.”
Keyamo was then given a tour of the airport Operations Control Centre and discussed the creation of an Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) with Sinanan and Browne.
He said Nigeria has adopted APIS.
Keyamo said, “You have to get to that point now, where before the flight arrives you know every single person and the profile of every single person.”
“So, you have to be connected to some kind of international portal or something, and as they are boarding in any part of the world before they head here, all your immigration officers will know exactly who’s on that flight.”
He mentioned he was on a flight to London recently and when the plane landed, law enforcement officers told all passengers to stay in their seats and went to one particular passenger and handcuffed him.
