BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis will soon benefit from an agreement in the providence of technical assistance in the form of training by the Implementation Support and Development (ISD) Section of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
This decision was made following the recent Security Audit of the RLB International Airport under the International Civil Aviation Universal Audit Programme to ensure compliance with Annex 17 to the ICAO convention.
In a letter dated November 18, 2009 and addressed to McClean Hobson, Director of Maritime and Civil Aviation Affairs and of the Ministry of Transport, Chief of Safety and Security Audit Branch Mohamed Elamiri outlined that “the ISD Section will provide St. Kitts and Nevis with a detailed assistance proposal in the very near future. Our proposal will take into consideration your request in order to best enable St. Kitts and Nevis to implement the standards and recommended practices of Annex 17”.
In response, Hobson told this media house that “this is a major step in the right direction for the Ministry of Transport. There is no way we are going to fight terrorism and other acts of unlawful interference to Civil Aviation without effective training”.
“This announcement,” he added, “is certainly a blessing. We can now look forward to bringing security at both airports in line with the required standard”.
Hobson also informed that while waiting for the proposed assistance, the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport continues to implement its Civil Aviation Security programmes under Annex 17 to the ICAO Convention.
“These include the National Civil Aviation programme, the National Civil Aviation Security Training programme, RLB and Vance Amory International Airport Security programmes and the National Quality Assurance programme,” Hobson pointed out.
In early November, the National Civil Aviation Security Training Programme received a shot in the arm following the successful completion of a one-week intensive training course by six of its members, making them qualified Civil Aviation Security Instructors.
The course was conducted by Mark Casey of Transportation Security Consulting and Training, USA, and the six instructors are: Royston Griffin of the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport; David Hendrickson and Velie Maynard of the Nevis Air and Sea Port Authority; and Joseph Taylor, Mary Nurse and Jasmine James of the St. Christopher Air and Sea Port Authority.
