Amid the security concerns raised by the British government, a seven-member steering committee has been formed to further improve the security standard at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, reports UNB.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon will act as the chairman of the committee. The decision came following a meeting between the high-level delegations of Bangladesh and the UK held at the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday, said a media release issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry.
A review meeting on the airport security situation will be held on March 20.
British High Commissioner Alison Blake led the seven-member UK delegation while Menon the Bangladesh side.
Prime Minister’s Security Affairs Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque, Home Ministry Senior Secretary Dr Md Mozammel Haque Khan, PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum, Civil Aviation Secretary Khorshed Alam Chowdhury and Biman Bangladesh Airlines acting Managing Director and CEO Cdr (retd) MM Asaduzzaman were, among others, present.
The British delegation gave an observation on short, mid and long-term measures to improve the security in the cargo complex, said the press release.
Earlier on Saturday, the Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister hoped that the United Kingdom will lift its restriction on cargo carrying on direct flights from Dhaka to London by March 31 considering the security measures taken so far.
On March 8, the British government restricted cargo on the direct flights from Dhaka to the UK until further notice as part
of a ‘set of interim measures’. Recent security assessments of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport found that some international security requirements were not being met, the UK government said in a notice issued on March 8.
Airlines carrying cargo between Bangladesh and the UK on indirect routes are being asked to ensure that it is re-screened before its final leg into the UK, according to the UK Department for Transport.
The British government is working with the government of Bangladesh to support them in improving the standards for all aspects of aviation security.
Earlier, Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved a project worth Tk 90 crore to purchase modern ground handling equipment as per the directives given by the British authorities.
Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon told reporters at the Secretariat that new scanning machines have been installed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, worth Tk. 90 crore currently under consideration at the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).
The entire airport, he added, is now under close-circuit camera’s supervision.  Every once in a while, awareness announcements are made for everyone to look for anything suspicious and inform authorities accordingly.
A team from UK is currently training representatives from civil aviation, Biman and ground handling staff on advanced security measures, hence the minister expressed his surprise as to why an embargo was given on cargo flights.
Meanwhile, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) yesterday urged the government to work jointly with the governments of the UK and Australia to improve the security equirement for lifting the ban imposed by the two countries on direct cargo flight from Bangladesh. “DCCI feels that if this ban is not lifted soon, Bangladeshi exporters will have to export their products through Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand or Dubai which will definitely increase cost of doing business,” the business body said in a press release.
On March 8, the UK government banned air cargo directly from Dhaka citing Bangladesh’s failure to meet international security requirements. Australia also banned direct cargo flight from Bangladesh citing the same concern on December 19 last year.