body,td,th { font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; }
Following last month's theft of a Maya Cessna Caravan and the fatal crash that followed it - those in the aviation industry have to ask, how safe are parked aircraft in Belize - when narcos want to target them?
Since the unprecedented event in Placencia, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been in discussions with other stakeholders regarding the level of security at each airport.
We today spoke with Thea Garcia in her other capacity as the general manager for the Belize Airports Authority about some of the discussions taking place.
Thea Garcia Ramirez, General manager, Airports Authority
"Well temporarily the Belize airport authority. I am the general manager there. We are engaging with a consultant to sort of give us a plan. As with security it has to be sustainable so it can't be that we are going to send police and BDF and everybody there for one week, because what will that do? With our new initiative it comes at a cost so we need to find out what it will cost what has to be implemented as well as take those plans over to the defense security force like are we meeting targets for IKO are we meeting the B cards which are the local regulations that govern aviation in Belize and the enforcer is the department of civil aviation so we have to be in compliance with a different agreement with different regulations and a security package cannot just be implemented like that it needs to be insured that we are in compliance with all of these."
But what changes will be made at the airports in terms of security upgrades? Does this require more manpower or points for screening? Garcia told us more about some of the new security measures being looked at
Thea Garcia Ramirez, General manager, Airports Authority
"Visitors and Belizean visitors and local visitors can expect that you have to there will be at least a half an hour or an hour lead time for you to check in and get all the security components of your visit or of your flight in order so showing up five minutes before your flight is not going to cut it so that is the first an immediate thing, there will be, I am also told that baggage where are you can take 10 bags before there will now be a maximum. And I guess they will institute charges for baggage. You will have checks of carry-ons and of bags that you check in and so all of that takes time and it will come at a cost and we are trying to ensure that we keep the cost as a minimum to see who will actually be charged for this, so you can expect all of these things to come in tighter security, more restrictions at the airport in terms of access to the air side, which is on the outside and so all of these things of course for baggage. You can expect all of these things to come and I'm sure that within the next month or two they will be implemented slowly and staggered at different airstrips, particularly at the ones that fly directly into the PGIA."
