Tanzania Airport Authority vows to improve security

Following recent events at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA), when three Chinese colluded with local airport security officials to ship nearly 300 kilograms of blood ivory out of the country on a Swiss flight to Zurich, consequences are being addressed by the Tanzania Airport Authority (TAA). With Tanzania’s conservation reputation all but in tatters – the Kikwete regime presided over the slaugher of as many as 100,000 elephant during his time in office – tourism marketers have blown the whistle and warned of the unprecedented fallout if the poaching and ivory trade crimes are not halted. While a review of security footage from back-up hard drives – the original disks were also removed from the recorders by the accomplices of the recent smuggling operation – revealed the staff who colluded with the Chinese, the Tanzania Airport Authority has now taken added measures to improve security and close loopholes. It is understood from usually well-informed aviation sources in Dar es Salaam that the TAA is going to import additional scanners and supervision systems which will monitor staff movements at JNIA to avoid a repeat, whereby ivory smugglers disguised as passengers can get away with contraband in their checked baggage through the help of corrupt staff. They quoted TAA Director General, Mr. Suleiman Said Suleiman, who said that the authority was procuring the latest technology from Rapiscan which would be installed within a matter of weeks, once the need assessment and security oversight analysis was complete. One source also suggested that the new system would help prevent pilfering of luggage, which though not a very common occurrence in Dar es Salaam, unlike other airports in the region which have gained some notoriety in this regard, would be made a lot more difficult through additional closed-circuit television (CCTV) installations. http://www.eturbonews.com/62848/tanzania-airport-authority-vows-improve-security