(Jamaica Gleaner) Prime Minister Bruce Golding says a repeat of Sunday night’s hijacking of a Canadian charter flight at the Sangster International Airport is not likely as the Government takes on a more integral role in airport security.
Owing to the fact the Montego Bay-based airport is privately run, governments over the years have not been actively involved in the facility’s day-to-day operation, in particular security, and on many occasions, only a few police personnel are on duty at the police post.
However, the serious breach which allowed armed 21-year-old Stephen Fray to force his way through airport security, hijacking a Canadian charter flight destined for Halifax, Canada, with around 160 passengers on-board, has served as a wake-up call.
Indirectly addressing the country’s international partners and those with whom Jamaica has bilateral air-service agreements, Golding, at a press conference on Monday, assured the nation that he ordered the transport and works ministry to instruct the Civil Aviation Authority and the Airports Authority of Jamaica to commence an investigation into the circumstances under which the security arrangements at Sangster International were breached.
“We have an unblemished record of airline safety. We have never had anything of its kind in Jamaica before and it is a record that must be preserved,” Golding stressed during a press conference at the Montego Bay airport.
Among the concerns the authorities will be probing is how Fray was able to barge through security checkpoints with a gun and then enter the aeroplane before anyone could stop him, the prime minister said.
Golding went further, stating that effective immediately the Government would not just show “an interest”, but now has the responsibility to ensure that the airport security continues to operate at an international level.
