Khan: No Special Forces needed at Piarco

DESPITE ongoing military action in Iraq, there is no need for the deployment of an elite, military unit at Piarco International Airport to guard against possible terrorist attacks. This was the statement made Wwdnesday by Works Minister and Acting National Security Minister, Franklyn Khan, following the signing of a US$ 500,000 grant agreement from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to strengthen airport security.

Speaking with reporters at the Ministry of Works’ offices on Richmond Street, Khan stated: “Airport security is no longer a guard standing up by a door and looking around in a uniform. It has become a very intellectualised business.”

Asked whether the deployment of a Special Forces team at Piarco was necessary given the possibility of terrorist attacks due to the war in Iraq, the Minister said: “ What kind of security you put in place will obviously depend the type of risk associated with this area and this airport. That is a continuous evaluation process. By just putting a  military and or security presence has its own counterbenefits, so to speak, because you might be unecessarily energising the situation when the situation does not call for it.

“Today the world is energised about security, and rightfully so, based on 9/11 and the Iraq war, but ultimately it is not man’s intention to be on a state of alert ad infinitum. We all want peace and security.”

Khan added that Trinidad and Tobago’s airport security surpasses that of many of its Caricom neighbours and through the Civil Aviation Authority, this country is helping those countries improve their security mechanisms.

Khan said the progamme to strengthen the country’s airport security was three-fold, concentrating on regulatory strengthening, implementation of new administrative services and training of security of personnel. The third component which will see security officers undergoing specialist training in areas such as bomb detection and hostage negotiation, will run over an 18-month period at a cost of US$ 715,000.

The Minister said this programme was in keeping with an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Action Plan approved in June 2002, to improve aviation security in the ICAO’s 187 member nations.

Local IDB representative, William Robinson revealed that a 1998 ICAO assessment, showed  77 countries had persistent problems with airport security. Robinson said with an increased flow of investment and visitors into Trinidad and Tobago and this country’s ability to be a regional transport hub, improved aviation security was essential.