EDITORIAL: No compromise on airport security

The madness of passengers wilting in unusually long immigration lines at the Sangster International Airport can do no good for Montego Bay's image as a tourist-friendly city. Coming so soon after the Kingston unrest which drove away nervous travellers, the absurd 'go-slow' by immigration officers, which caused some passengers to miss their flights, will only retard the recovery of this fragile industry.

If, as we reported in yesterday's edition, the six-day-old problem stemmed from an immigration officer taking offence at being reprimanded for using an unauthorised entrance, we can only describe this situation as a study in bureaucratic ineptitude. Why has it taken a week for the airport administrators and the Passport, Immigration and Citizens Agency to sort out what appears on the surface to be a simple matter of bruised ego?

Far too often we have seen examples of simple disagreements at the workplace escalating into widescale conflict with implications for the entire country. Often, nonsensical reasons are proffered to justify the sometimes irrational reaction to these disputes. But there are well- established legal and institutional mechanisms for resolving on-the-job disputes. We suggest that these avenues should be pursued to ensure that a more congenial environment can be achieved at the workplace.

Accountability needed

With the intensified security focus at airports in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in America, employees who flout security rules should not only be reprimanded, they should be punished. We cannot forget that this very Sangster airport was the scene of an attempted airline hijacking of a Canada-bound aircraft. Armed with a gun, the young man was able to exploit security weaknesses and find his way aboard an aircraft during the loading process. The ease with which he got aboard the plane exposed the underbelly of security at Sangster in this post-9/11 world. Although there is every indication that dereliction of duty was a causative factor in that incident, we are yet to hear if anyone was punished. Yes, there has been loud condemnation but the maximum penalty should have also been applied.

Hopefully, the bar has been raised since that incident because threats against civil aviation continue to evolve around the world and airports everywhere have beefed up security to avert attacks. Jamaica falls under the ambit of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) based in Canada. A United Nations agency, ICAO codifies the principles and technologies of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport, to ensure safety and orderly growth.

Let us not capitulate to indiscipline by allowing anyone, even accredited employees, to circumvent the established rules and procedures which must be in keeping with the ICAO standards. Airport security demands that every tool is employed to ensure the safety of passengers.

Every airport worker, including contract employees, should be alert and sensitive to the dangers that lurk at an airport, for the real success in airport security is in deterrence. The most stringent security-rules have to be consistently applied every day.

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