Officials assess airport security
Earlier in this newscast the president of a local airline said that the most dangerous part of flying was the drive to the airport. While that assessment may be statistically accurate, it provides little comfort to many travellers and the security agencies charged with their safety. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports on what Belizean officials are doing to keep the skies friendly.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Acts of terror have sealed the fate of air passengers across the world. But in the race to protect law abiding travellers, security personnel are obligated to arm themselves with the latest in anti-terrorism and general aviation security.
With that in mind, this week, local and international airline representatives, law enforcement officials, and government administrators are participating in an intensive five-day program to talk shop.
?The National Program Development Workshop? is part of scheduled courses being held across the Caribbean and Central America by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Mark Emerson, Security Enforcement Training Academy
?Your civil aviation program is quite advanced compared to many countries that I have been in.?
According to Mark Emerson, Senior Instructor at the Security Enforcement Training Academy of the Transportation Security Administration, the idea is to make sure Belize?s definition of safety gels with international standards. But is Belize really in danger?
Mark Emerson
?The very peaceful countries of Kenya and Tanzania also had a similar effect before the American embassies were attacked by terrorists and hundreds of their countrymen were killed. And it wasn?t the fact that they were targeting Kenya or Tanzania, it?s the fact that Americans were there, innocents were sacrificed to make a political statement.?
?It never ends and in this war against terrorism, we are constantly vigilant against criminals and terrorist activity, which has historically, picked aviation as one of their targets.?
?We need everyone help to be constantly vigilant, to report any suspicious activity that they might identify and to be patient with the security professionals that are trying to make their safety and security aboard the aircraft as seamless and as easy as possible.?
Information being shared this week includes response to hijacking, hostage situations, and bomb threats.
Gilberto Torres, Operations Officer, Bze Dept of Civil Aviation
?All airports in the world are highly vulnerable. It?s just, you know where terrorists would want to go. But at the same time, that?s why we have to ensure that in Belize we have the effective, preventative security measures in place.?
?Overall at the airport it?s teamwork; all the agencies are working together to ensure that safety is never compromised.?
The workshop ends on Friday. Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
