"We don't have it today, significantly, there may be punctually, but today we don't have occupations that jeopardize certification, that is, I would say that the situation is under control", Paulo Nóbrega said on Friday, when questioned by Lusa.
According to the official, the problem of occupations "is not just about certification", but also about "operationality".
"We currently have a noise law that is insipid, but in the very short term we are going to have a noise law", he added.
"And if today a group of people build housing and equipment in the alignment of the runways, it may happen that during the normal operation of the airport these installations, housing and equipment are subject to noise levels higher than what is regulated", he said.
Speaking at the end of the ceremony that marked the experimental flight to NAIL on Friday, departing from Luanda's 4 de Fevereiro International Airport, as part of its certification, Paulo Nóbrega said that most of the 1400 families evacuated within the perimeter of that airport , whose homes were demolished, "was opportunistic".
More than 1000 people, including children, adults and the elderly, complained last April that they were out in the open, in the commune of Bom Jesus, on the outskirts of NAIL, after seeing their homes demolished without any warning from the authorities.
The demolitions, as he told Lusa at the time, Miguel Fernandes, one of those affected, were allegedly in charge of personnel from the national police and the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and took place "under gunfire".
On Friday, the coordinator of the NAIL's Operational Office, located in the municipality of Icolo e Bengo, 42 kilometers from the capital, said that of the people removed from the airport perimeter "there was no one who had demonstrated any legal qualifications".
"A real surface right was not presented, a property tax was not presented, a construction permit was not presented, and a habitability license was not presented, however, they are people, that is, no one was here by their own right", he stressed.
"There were people out of necessity and we have to be aware of this and there were opportunists, they were more opportunists than the needy, but they were people and what we couldn't do is have to jeopardize the certification of this airport", he pointed out.
Paulo Nóbrega said that those affected "were not entitled to any compensation", but because they were people, he observed, "what was done was to alleviate by giving some plates and there were people who were in the same situation as they were and there were those who were in a situation worst".
The official noted that at the end of the project, with the physical and financial execution of 60 percent, the NAIL could cost around 6 billion dollars and the investment "must be profitable", and the surrounding land "will be valued and potentiated".
The NAIL certification process, whose operations should start at the end of 2023, as the authorities estimate, began on Friday with the completion of the TAAG airline's experimental flight.
NAIL certification "is a more complex process than doing works, because doing work is a matter of work, certification is a matter of training people, certification is the demonstration at a worldwide level".
"Because we have the competence to safely manage this aeronautical infrastructure, here we will have around 1200 direct jobs, all these jobs have to be trained and certified in international terms", he noted.
"It is normal for the [certification] process to last about 12 months, we are counting on taking about 18 months, so I admit that in December 2023 we will be able to inaugurate the NAIL, but we may anticipate", concluded Paulo Nobrega.
