He also denied rumours that a security issue at Nassau International Airport recently had caused friction between the embassy and the Bahamas government.
Other sections of the press had reported that a “terrorist suspect” had been allowed to board a plane for Miami against the wishes of the US pre-clearance authorities, who were prevented from taking him into custody..
Although admitting that an individual at the airport had been “of interest” to US authorities, he said there were “factual errors” in the reports of a security breach.
“There are certainly no plans to do anything with pre-clearance here. There is no serious consideration of this issue in Washington or anywhere else, although I am sure there are options for almost anything,” he told the Guardian.
He added that Congress might take a different view if there was another 9/11 and some of the attackers came through a pre-clearance facility, but the Embassy was working closely with the government to improve security at both air and sea ports.
“Pre-clearance is actually beneficial to us because it reduces the post-clearance load on our Customs and Immigration facilities. We consider it a cost-effective process,” Mr Witajewski said.
He also spiked rumours that the recent travel advisory related to Hurricane Isabel was intended as a warning to Bahamian officials, or was an overreaction on the part of United States authorities.
“These advisories are automatically generated under certain conditions to protect our facilities and personnel. There were absolutely no ulterior motives or hidden agendas to the warning. It was simply a prudent measure for us,” he said.
The pre-clearance facilities at Nassau and Freeport international Airports were closed a week ago Sunday because of the threat from Hurricane Isabel, a category 5 storm that was bearing down on the Bahamas but eventually turned northward.
Facilities re-opened three days later. The embassy said that only a small number of people were “temporarily inconvenienced” by the closing.. According to the embassy’s web site, 33 US inspectors pre-clear over 1.5 million passengers a year in the Bahamas. Only a handful of countries, including Canada and Bermuda, enjoy this facility.
By Larry Smith, The Nassau Guardian
