VERY important files and information of all aircraft, pilots, and airport certificates were lost during the early morning blaze on Tuesday.
This was when the Civil Aviation Authority of Solomon Islands (CAASI) office at Henderson, East Honiara was razed to the ground.
Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Communication & Civil Aviation Moses Virovolomo, described the unfortunate incident as a huge loss for the office.
Mr. Virovolomo in an interview with the paper said nothing survived the fire as everything has gone up in flame when the entire building was razed to the country.
Virovolomo explained that building accommodates all very important records and files for aviation work.
He said that office is the regulator of the Civil Aviation which oversees the safety, compliance, security, and how the airport is operated.
“It’s a great loss because all the records in the computers and hard files have already gone except those in laptops that officers might have them.
“The records include that of all the airplanes we have, the records of pilots and their medical records, pilots’ certificates, our two international airports certificates, and other important records,” he added.
Virovolomo said there might be possibilities of recollecting some of the files from staff members because of the records were shared amongst the staff.
“Those that we can collect can be put together to make new copies but otherwise everything has gone with the fire,” he said.
The building caught fire at around 1:30 am on Tuesday morning when the country celebrated its 42nd independence celebration.
Virovolomo said they are yet to identify whether it was a result of arson by a burglar since a hole was spotted at the fence behind the building after the fire occurred.
The other reason would an electrical fault, he claims.
He said currently the matter is before the police to further investigation to see what actually its cause.
By IAN M.KAUKUI
