Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn said the sustainability of security plans in civil aviation and other sectors has always been lacking because of complacency.
According to a Government Information Agency press release the minister was speaking at an OAS-sponsored aviation security workshop.
Benn told the workshop, “There is a sustainability problem with respect to plans and updating those plans, there is also a problem with the attention we pay towards being security conscious such as ensuring that when there is a breach in the security system, the proper review and sanctions are taken.” He cautioned that failure to ensure sustainability of implementation would lead to failure in the requisite level of intervention needed for the safety and security.
The minister also called for sufficient attention to be given to developing the human resource capacity and reviewing systems so that events, which could put world economies into shock and standstill do not occur. “Guyana is not immune to interference in civil aviation,” he said. In this regard, Benn called for stakeholders to pay close attention to training courses on this topic which seek not only to empower individuals on civil aviation security but also enable them to support other agencies in response to attacks.
Benn also said he was grateful for the OAS support at the workshop, noting that it was crucial for stakeholders to be adequately prepared in the event of unlawful interference of civil aviation in Guyana. “It is important that we have a plan and that in executing this plan we are effective and efficient and that the risks and damage we are exposed to as a result of any incident are mitigated and at the least cost to our resources,” he said.
The Organisation of American States (OAS) was represented by Denis Moses and other representatives included Director General of Aviation Zulfikar Mohammad and US Transportation Safety Aviation (TSA) representative Donald Selechta, the Civil Defence Commission, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Fire Service and the Civil Aviation and Airports Authority.
