Mauritania is working to bring the country's civil aviation security up to international standards.
Mauritanian authorities recently held a training session for aviation and security officials as part of a national plan designed to boost protection at airports in response to increased threats from terrorism.
"Today, with the threat of terrorism, we need to do all we can to deal with those challenges," said Sid'Ahmed, one of the participants. He said the session aimed at training officials "to meet the changes facing this vital, highly sensitive sector".
"The meeting involved representatives from the police forces and employees from the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) undertaking security duties in Mauritanian airports," according to ANAC Director Aboubekrin Essidigh Ould Mohamed El Hacen.
The director said that the September 4th training session was "part of the policy introduced by the agency to prepare Mauritanian airports to deal with all types of threats".
"The new training strategy introduced by the agency became necessary following an audit of Mauritanian airports between 24th and 31st October 2010, which demonstrated a number of weaknesses requiring improvements to be made in security, by providing new specialised airport security equipment," Ould Mohamed El Hacen explained.
Alioune, another workshop participant, said that it helped "sharpen up the skills of personnel responsible for airport security". He added that this latest training class follows on the heels of one in August with European partners that taught techniques to inspect aircraft.
ANAC representative Isselmou said that the training enabled "participants to learn first-hand about the most modern techniques in use for control, inspection and security, particularly under the strategy introduced by ANAC in 2011 to implement its overhaul of the system following the international inspection process of 2008".
Mahfoudh Ould Amy, secretary-general at transport ministry, was keen to stress "the importance of security for Mauritania's citizens and visitors".
"The strategy put in place by ANAC will enable us to meet this objective, through the continuous improvement of the nation's skills in civil aviation security and the availability of specialist human resources," he added.
According to air transport expert Jibril, the Mauritanian government adopted the new National Plan for Civil Aviation Security (PNSAC) in May of last year in order to meet security standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The plan reorganised law enforcement bodies and defined their duties regarding Mauritanian airports.
"The roles played by police and customs officers have been redefined as part of the reorganisation process: the civil police will from now on be responsible for passport controls for those arriving and leaving, as well as the inspection of passengers using x-ray machines within airports; customs officers will have a greater role to play in freight inspections, and the military police will take charge of internal and external access issues and airport perimeter security," he said.
"The realisation of this plan is the result of rigorous law-making, consultation and co-operation with the ICAO and civil aviation authorities in Ivory Coast, Morocco, Mali, Senegal, Spain and France," Jibril said.
© Magharebia.com 2011
