UK team firm on March 31 deadline

The UK expert team yesterday firmly reiterated that they wanted “almost all” the security requirements met at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport within March 31.

Or else, more actions, which British Prime Minister David Cameron hinted in a letter to his Bangladeshi counterpart recently, would be taken, said a source who attended a meeting between the UK team and Bangladesh government high officials yesterday.

The chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) was removed yesterday and more such actions would be taken for national interest, said a participant of the meeting, wishing anonymity.

The UK Department for Transport has already imposed a ban on direct cargo from Bangladesh to the UK on security grounds.

A diplomatic source, who attended the meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, told The Daily Star that the UK did not change its policy and it was unlikely that it would change in the near future.

The source said the team from the British government, which is looking into the airport security on behalf of the entire European Union, was very serious about the security issues at the airport and the March 31 deadline.

“The UK team wants to see that the things are done by March 31,” said a meeting participant.

There is no immediate chance of withdrawal of the ban on direct cargo to the UK from Bangladesh, the source said.

Asked whether the UK would ban direct passenger flights too, the official said there was no guarantee that it would not.

The government yesterday began all-out efforts to meet the UK security expert's requirements.

Upon the UK team's proposal at the meeting, the government formed a seven-member steering committee led by the civil aviation minister to upgrade the security system of the airport to international standards.

The committee will hold a review meeting on March 20.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon led the Bangladesh delegation at the meeting while British High Commissioner in Dhaka Alison Blake led the seven-member UK team.

FOREIGN COMPANY FOR SECURITY MANAGEMENT

About the meeting, Menon said the UK team has handed over a list of short-, mid- and long-term requirements they deem necessary for the restructure of the airport's security system and cargo-complex.

The team also recommended some companies that have security related expertise.

After the meeting, Bangladesh officials held another meeting with UK expert John Lovesy and decided to hire a company, the minister said.

“As an outcome of the meeting with Lovesy, if any international expert visits Bangladesh tomorrow [today], we may sign an agreement for quick implementation of the security requirements,” Menon told journalists at his temporary office at the airport yesterday afternoon.

A source said the minister instructed the civil aviation secretary to select British company G 4 as preferred by the UK team and make them a phone call to visit Bangladesh by today and sign an agreement.

“We hope we will be able to meet all their requirements within the stipulated time,” Menon added.

Asked about the list of existing problems, the minister mentioned shortage of cargo scanning machines, shortage of skilled manpower, and lack of screeners to operate the scanning machines.

He, however, said the UK admitted that 70 percent of their requirements had been fulfilled.

Menon said as per their suggestion, 15 people have already been trained while another 15 were training.

“We have already hired a trainer as suggested by them. It costs us 400 pounds to train each person, but we are not worried about the money,” he added.

About the long-term requirement, the minister said the UK team asked for sustainable capacity-building and supervision regarding security.

A participant said the British government was supporting and working with positive attitude so that Bangladesh could overcome the problem soon.

Another source said the issue of the three-term work plan was not discussed elaborately as the British team did not give it much attention since it was an old issue.

Prime Minister's Security Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, PMO Secretary Suriaya Begum, Civil Aviation Secretary Khorshed Alam Chowdhury, representatives from home and foreign ministries, Caab, and the Biman chairman attended the meeting.

CAAB CHAIRMAN REMOVED

Air Vice-Marshal Ehsanul Gani Chowdhury was made the new chairman of Caab. He replaces Air-Vice Marshal M Sanaul Huq.

Issuing a gazette notification, the public administration ministry yesterday confirmed the appointment of Ehsanul, who was air officer commanding at Bangladesh Air Force base Zahurul Huq in Chittagong.

M Sanaul Huq has been placed at the armed forces division, it mentioned.

VALIDATION TEAM STARTS WORK

A British expert yesterday started the validation work of Caab and Biman in Dhaka. He will validate the functions of Caab and Biman for five days, said a top Biman official.

The validator is a computer programme which mainly assesses an action, decision, plan, or transaction to establish that it is correct, complete, and being implemented as intended, and also delivering the intended outcome.

The audit is being conducted under the European Union's ACC3 regulations, added the Biman official.

Under the ACC3, introduced on February 1 of 2012, all air carriers carrying cargo or mail from non-EU countries to the EU must be registered as an “Air Cargo or Mail Carrier” operating into the EU from a Third Country Airport (ACC3) by an EU member state based on a valid security programme.

ACC3s must ensure that all cargo and mail carried to the EU is physically screened or have come from a secured supply chain which is EU aviation security validated.

For each carrier, ACC3 validation is required for an airport which serves as the Last Point of Departure (LPD) for flights into the EU, according to the EU regulations.

The UK-bound air carriers from Dhaka have already started re-screening of the cargo in third country airports as per the rules of the ban on direct cargo from Dhaka.

“Davis O' Sullivan, the British expert who has been working on behalf of the EU will validate the security measures for the next five days. Yesterday, he visited the cargo complex at the airport in Dhaka and spent the whole day there,” the Biman official said asking not to be named.

He said earlier in pre-validation inspection, the expert made some recommendations which Biman had implemented.

“If the audit findings are positive, the temporary cargo ban to the UK from Dhaka might be lifted,” the official hoped.