A FULL body scanner is being installed at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to be operational by the close of this month.
After the installation, the equipment will give security officials the opportunity to fairly assess every passenger or persons using the airport.
The measure forms part of security arrangements instituted by the authorities to forestall any security breaches at the airport.
Security concerns have heightened worldwide following a foiled attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, to blow up a North West Airline Flight 253 from Amsterdam, Holland, to Detroit in the United States of America on Christmas day.
A Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that though the use of the equipment would raise moral questions, the national security was in charge to come up with the best decision in the interest of individual travellers and national security.
Describing some of the reports on Mutallab as inaccurate, Mr Ablakwa noted that “now is not the time to indulge in blame games and as a country we have no wish to point accusing fingers”.
He disclosed, however, that the Nigerian arrived in Ghana on December 9, 2009, at 0320 GMT aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 911 from Dubai and indicated on his immigration form that he intended to stay in Ghana for three weeks.
According to the deputy minister, the traveller further gave a hotel address but did not stay at the address given on entry and rather chose a different hotel.
He said on December 24, 2009, Mutallab checked in at the KIA, Accra on Virgin Nigeria Flight 804 for Lagos, with that flight terminating in Lagos.
“He was, therefore, processed at the airport like any other ECOWAS national travelling within the ECOWAS sub-region. Again during security checks nothing incriminating was found on him,” the deputy minister said.
According to Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa, there was no indication that Mutallab was travelling beyond Lagos, but later checks “revealed that whilst here in Accra, he had purchased a ticket from KLM in Accra for Lagos-Amsterdam-Detroit-Amsterdam-Lagos which ticket he subsequently used to travel from the Lagos Airport.
Mr Ablakwa noted that Mutallab departed KIA at 1706 hours (GMT) on Virgin Nigeria Flight 804 for a one-hour flight to terminate in Lagos Nigeria.
“It is observed that after that flight had terminated, he checked in for a fresh flight altogether — North West Airline Flight 8588 from Lagos to Amsterdam and connected in Amsterdam on North West Airline Flight 253 to Detroit.”
Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa said the suspect took the flight from Lagos at 2255 hours on December 24, 2009 giving him (suspect) virtually five clear hours of time in Nigeria on arrival from Accra.
“His flight on North West Airline to Amsterdam and the connection to Detroit were both not and indeed could not have been in the anticipation of the relevant Ghanaian Airport security officials,” he stressed.
The deputy minister stressed that at no time before the event had the relevant Ghanaian security authorities been informed that Mutallab had come to security notice, adding that the suspect had, therefore, been treated like any other ECOWAS national travelling to another ECOWAS member state.
“The relevant Ghanaian authority pledges its commitment and resolve to ensure flight safety and shall continue to co-operate with our global partner agencies in the effort to make airline travel safe for all.
“Airport security has become a global responsibility and it is our belief that the lessons learnt from this event will serve to actualise the required mutual co-operation to enhance airport security capacity to common standards the world over,” he noted.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
WOMEN MAKE MONEY OUT OF TRASH (PAGE 19, JAN 1)
One hundred and eighty women have undergone a training programme to enable them to recycle plastic waste into handbags for sale in supermarkets.
The project, known as Trashes for Treasure, is being provided for women, especially young girls, under the auspices of Students in Free Enterprises (SIFE).
The project, which is aimed at women empowerment, recycles trash such as plastic and metal waste to manufacture bags, door mats and the metal waste to mould sculptures.
Sixty of the trainees were drawn from Abokobi and its surrounding areas in the Ga East Municipal Assembly to empower the young girls and discourage them from emigrating to the urban centres in search of non-existent jobs.
The remaining 120 women were drawn from the campus of the Institute of Professional Studies who are required to use innovative ways of creating employment for themselves when they graduate from the institute instead of waiting for employment from the government.
Mr Francis Antwi, the Co-ordinator of the IPS branch of SIFE, in an interview said the branch undertook the training project in collaboration with Rural Women Support Network based in Abokobi and Village Network, also a local NGO.
He said the Students in Free Enterprises was the initiative of an American who lived and worked in Ghana and experienced the harrowing experiences women had to undergo to secure training and macro-credit to start their own income-generating ventures.
He said the SIFE, therefore, attached great importance to the granting of macro-credit facilities to rural and urban poor to start their businesses.
He said currently a Fulani herdswoman had been selected from Abokobi to be used as model in the establishment of a diary plant for the manufacture of ice cream and yoghurt products.
Mr Antwi said the project to turn the fresh cow milk into yoghurt, if patronised, could be replicated across the country to help eradicate poverty and break its cycle in the rural areas.
The co-ordinator expressed the hope that when the rural areas provided the enabling environment for the youth to earn a livelihood, it would discourage them from migrating to the urban centres in search of jobs.
Mr Antwi appealed to the youth, especially those in the rural areas, to learn a trade or acquire a profession instead of migrating to the urban centres to look for non-existent jobs, which often landed them in bad company with its attendant antisocial activities such as indulging in pornography and prostitution.
The project, known as Trashes for Treasure, is being provided for women, especially young girls, under the auspices of Students in Free Enterprises (SIFE).
The project, which is aimed at women empowerment, recycles trash such as plastic and metal waste to manufacture bags, door mats and the metal waste to mould sculptures.
Sixty of the trainees were drawn from Abokobi and its surrounding areas in the Ga East Municipal Assembly to empower the young girls and discourage them from emigrating to the urban centres in search of non-existent jobs.
The remaining 120 women were drawn from the campus of the Institute of Professional Studies who are required to use innovative ways of creating employment for themselves when they graduate from the institute instead of waiting for employment from the government.
Mr Francis Antwi, the Co-ordinator of the IPS branch of SIFE, in an interview said the branch undertook the training project in collaboration with Rural Women Support Network based in Abokobi and Village Network, also a local NGO.
He said the Students in Free Enterprises was the initiative of an American who lived and worked in Ghana and experienced the harrowing experiences women had to undergo to secure training and macro-credit to start their own income-generating ventures.
He said the SIFE, therefore, attached great importance to the granting of macro-credit facilities to rural and urban poor to start their businesses.
He said currently a Fulani herdswoman had been selected from Abokobi to be used as model in the establishment of a diary plant for the manufacture of ice cream and yoghurt products.
Mr Antwi said the project to turn the fresh cow milk into yoghurt, if patronised, could be replicated across the country to help eradicate poverty and break its cycle in the rural areas.
The co-ordinator expressed the hope that when the rural areas provided the enabling environment for the youth to earn a livelihood, it would discourage them from migrating to the urban centres in search of jobs.
Mr Antwi appealed to the youth, especially those in the rural areas, to learn a trade or acquire a profession instead of migrating to the urban centres to look for non-existent jobs, which often landed them in bad company with its attendant antisocial activities such as indulging in pornography and prostitution.
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