Menzies says request to distribute cargo falls on deaf ears

The former ground handling service operator at Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA), Menzies Aviation Namibia, says its request to distribute cargo to clients has fallen on deaf ears.

Approximately 23 tonnes of cargo are locked up in Menzies’ warehouse at the airport.

This pertains to inbound cargo the company was supposed to distribute before it was evicted from the airport on 18 August.

In a statement via the company’s legal representative, Elizabeth Viljoen, the company said it cannot distribute the cargo.

The company claims it has requested the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) and Paragon on numerous occasions to be permitted access to the airport’s premises to distribute the cargo.

“Menzies will continue to do its utmost to resolve this matter on a legal basis, without resorting to self-help, like others,” reads the statement.

Menzies alleges that Paragon, the NAC and other parties took the law into their own hands by unlawfully evicting the company from the airport before the 30-day notice period.

The company has since lodged an application with the High Court to be allowed back onto the airport’s premises.

The judgment will be handed down on 1 September.

Menzies took over the ground handling services at HKIA at the start of 2014.

When the contract ended in 2021, Paragon Investment Holdings, in a joint venture with Ethiopian Airlines, was awarded the tender.

Menzies has since been in court fighting the awarding of the tender to Paragon, claiming it was irregular and unlawful.

The NAC has, in the meantime, requested Menzies to hand over the cargo to Paragon Aviation Services, the new operator, to dispatch to clients.

Both NAC and Paragon yesterday referred to previous comments on the issue, including that Menzies should hand over the cargo to Paragon to distribute.

The NAC recently confirmed that Paragon is yet to receive the necessary certification to handle European-bound exports.

The absence of this certification is one of the reasons why some airlines had imposed a cargo embargo on the airport since Sunday.

Paragon Investment Holdings spokesperson Lazarus Jacobs has previously dismissed allegations of a lack of certification to execute ground handling services at the airport.

“Paragon is fully licensed by the relevant authorities to manage ground handling. This issue of certificates and embargoes due to so-called ‘security issues’ are just sideshows and alarmist propaganda,” he has said.

While imports and exports through HKIA continue, NAC spokesperson Dan Kamati said recently that direct exports to the European Union (EU) can only take place once the appropriate certification has been attained.

“These exports can still be processed through alternative routes such as Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Luanda, or Doha for the EU zone,” he said.

Kamati said this accreditation is provided only after actual operations are observed by those conducting the audit.