Ghana Airports takes delivery of explosive trace device
The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) is positioning itself to enhance safety and security at the country’s airports.
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Subsequently, it has taken delivery of two Explosive Trace Detection (ETD) machines for use at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.
The machines will be used for the screening of passengers, cabin baggage, among other things, for explosives, particularly at a time when terrorist activities across the world have heightened.
The delivery of the machines follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of Ghana and the United Kingdom (UK) in May this year.
Under the terms of the MoU, apart from providing the machines, the UK will provide training for 15 officials of the GACL on the use of the ETD equipment, as well as provide train-the-trainer training for five others in supervision, advanced use and daily routine maintenance procedures.
Presenting the machines, the British High Commissioner in Accra, Mr Jon Benjamin, indicated that “terrorists look for weak links in a system to strike and we believe that this equipment will go a long way to enhance security and complement the existing security arrangements at the KIA”.
He said Ghana and the UK had collaborated on many fronts, adding that the presentation of the machines further deepened the existing relationship.
MD of GACL
Receiving the machines, the Managing Director of the GACL, Mr Charles Asare, said “today’s event is significant, in the light of recent security challenges at airports and the current investigation into the plane crash at the Sharm-el-Shieik in Egypt which proves that one of the preferred terrorist weapons to destroy commercial airlines is the deployment of explosives and bombs”.
He said the ability of every airport to detect and stop such explosives before they got loaded or carried onto a plane could not be overemphasised and described the presentation by the British as timely and necessary.