Aviation security scrutinised
Namibia's aviation security was scrutinised yesterday to identify weaknesses following an increase in the number of security breaches reported by air carriers over the past couple of years.
These breaches included the confiscation of prohibited items and dangerous goods at secondary screening points at Namibia's airports. The minister of works and transport, Alpheus !Naruseb, referred to several incidents where controlled wildlife products were transported out of Namibia through airports without being detected.
“We have learned as recently as December 2015 and December 2016 that consignments of protected animal species worth thousands of Namibia dollars have been detected and confiscated outside Namibia. One cannot help but wonder how many unaccounted millions of dollars have left Namibia already.”
!Naruseb said this during a high-level consultative workshop on aviation security.
The objective of the workshop was to address areas that need improvement to strengthen Namibia's response to its obligations under the Chicago Convention and the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
“The current operating climate and the manner in which we are organised at state level afford very little opportunity to deliver an aviation secure environment with defences that are sufficiently robust to inform the design of human and machine interface,” the minister said.
He said he was therefore advocating that the country adopt a risk-based layered approach to security although he believed the vast majority of people, goods and services moving through airports were legitimate.
!Naruseb said although Namibia had no past experience of any unlawful threat against civil aviation, the country must remain vigilant to avert any threat.
He said the government recognised the benefit that increased air travel to and from Namibia brought, but said it also brought a number of inherent risks.
He added that it was hard for the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) to respond to this rapid growth without corresponding changes in its runway capacity, terminal capacity and the other supporting facilities.
According to !Naruseb the country has seen an 11.86% growth in passenger numbers between August 2015 and December 2016.
That is almost double the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) projection of 6% growth for the African region, which is considered one of the fastest growing ICAO travel markets.
“Taking into consideration that air routes are not necessarily static and may change given the fluctuating nature of the financial performance of air carriers, it is undoubtedly clear that Namibia is increasingly considered a lucrative market segment within the region.”
!Naruseb said he recognised that it was nearly impossible for the police to deliver screening services and enforce the law given their limited resources.
“There is, however, a need for us to jointly cultivate a new mindset and operating culture in line with international best practices and the international standards and recommended practices set out in the Chicago Convention,” he said.
During the workshop presentations were delivered by aviation experts from Singapore, after which comparisons were made with Namibia's aviation sector and discussions were held to come up with a long-term strategy to improve services locally.
ELLANIE SMIT
These breaches included the confiscation of prohibited items and dangerous goods at secondary screening points at Namibia's airports. The minister of works and transport, Alpheus !Naruseb, referred to several incidents where controlled wildlife products were transported out of Namibia through airports without being detected.
“We have learned as recently as December 2015 and December 2016 that consignments of protected animal species worth thousands of Namibia dollars have been detected and confiscated outside Namibia. One cannot help but wonder how many unaccounted millions of dollars have left Namibia already.”
!Naruseb said this during a high-level consultative workshop on aviation security.
The objective of the workshop was to address areas that need improvement to strengthen Namibia's response to its obligations under the Chicago Convention and the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
“The current operating climate and the manner in which we are organised at state level afford very little opportunity to deliver an aviation secure environment with defences that are sufficiently robust to inform the design of human and machine interface,” the minister said.
He said he was therefore advocating that the country adopt a risk-based layered approach to security although he believed the vast majority of people, goods and services moving through airports were legitimate.
!Naruseb said although Namibia had no past experience of any unlawful threat against civil aviation, the country must remain vigilant to avert any threat.
He said the government recognised the benefit that increased air travel to and from Namibia brought, but said it also brought a number of inherent risks.
He added that it was hard for the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) to respond to this rapid growth without corresponding changes in its runway capacity, terminal capacity and the other supporting facilities.
According to !Naruseb the country has seen an 11.86% growth in passenger numbers between August 2015 and December 2016.
That is almost double the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) projection of 6% growth for the African region, which is considered one of the fastest growing ICAO travel markets.
“Taking into consideration that air routes are not necessarily static and may change given the fluctuating nature of the financial performance of air carriers, it is undoubtedly clear that Namibia is increasingly considered a lucrative market segment within the region.”
!Naruseb said he recognised that it was nearly impossible for the police to deliver screening services and enforce the law given their limited resources.
“There is, however, a need for us to jointly cultivate a new mindset and operating culture in line with international best practices and the international standards and recommended practices set out in the Chicago Convention,” he said.
During the workshop presentations were delivered by aviation experts from Singapore, after which comparisons were made with Namibia's aviation sector and discussions were held to come up with a long-term strategy to improve services locally.
ELLANIE SMIT
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