A new $15 million security system to combat drugs smuggling and terrorist attacks at Nassau International Airport is finally up and running – two months after being phased in.
General Manager at the Airport Authority, Idris Reid, said new procedures were put in place to intercept illegal items leaving or coming into the country. He added that based on rules of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a thorough checking system must be implemented. The multi-million- dollar equipment underwent a rigourous test on Sunday to work out any kinks that might hinder its operations.
“As of January 1, the International Civil Aviation Organisation requires all member states operating international airports to conduct full screenings of checked baggage for explosives and other illegal items,” he said. “So we are now conducting those searches electronically. We’re now operating that system and we have the staff and everything else.”
Joseph Reckley, deputy general manager at the Airport Authority, explained how the multi-million-dollar system works.
“The operator who is operating the equipment will first of all check the bag, and if they see something they believe they need to do a further testing on, then the bag is sent to another station and the information is transmitted to that other station as to what the operator is seeing,” he said. “And if that operator cannot resolve it, then it goes to a third station where a trace-detecting equipment is set up and a swipe will be taking the information. It will then go to that machine and the machine will then give a positive or false read. If it is negative then the bag goes back into the system. If it is positive then we will have to get the passenger back to the point and have the bag searched and checked.”
For the country’s other international airports which may not have access to these machines, the operator will use a piece of cloth and do a swipe test across the bag then put it into the machine. The cloth process takes about seven seconds, he said.
Mr Reid sent a stern warning to would-be smugglers and added that the electronic equipment allows authorities to locate people within seconds.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re travelling,” he said. “Whether to the United States, England, Jamaica or wherever, you would have checked in and you would be either in the terminal or in the lounge and your airline will find you and bring you for further questioning.”
He admitted that the new machines are not the CPX 9000 machines found in US airports, claiming that they are too big for NIA. But he said the G5000 machines in place are just as effective as the bigger ones.
“It’s like buying a bicycle or a car, you choose the car you want,” he said. “There’s no point in buying equipment that is too far ahead of the passenger level that we have. So we had to design it so that it is for the level of passengers we have now and we expect to have in the immediate future.”
By: IANTHIA SMITH, The Nassau Guardian
