CARGO SECTOR stakeholders at Johannesburg International Airport have joined forces with a security group established by the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) to combat crime in the area.
Police and defence force personnel have linked
with Acsa officials, airline representatives, handling agents, customs and excise officials and members of the trade unions to attack the problem.
An amount of R3 million has been approved for the upgrade of central search points throughout the airport environs, while R5 million has been invested in CCTV coverage of terminal buildings, parking areas
and aircraft manoeuvering areas.
While much of this has been devoted to passenger terminals, cargo operators are satisfied that combined efforts will now spill effectively into their region of the airport, where airside restricted areas have been secured more stringently against unlawful interference of incoming and outgoing cargo.
Access to and from apron areas has been tightened, with security officials giving more attention to the various cargo warehouses at the cargo centre itself. More than 1 000 security personnel are employed at the airport of which 300 are Acsa employees, and a further 300 are contracted by Acsa. In addition five licensed security firms are contracted by airlines and handling agents.
Acsa believes that while all of the various stakeholders have different responsibilities and contractual obligations, if they are all committed to combating all forms of crime at the airport, a crime-free environment can be achieved, says Nicky Rose-Innes, Acsa's manager, marketing at the airport.
As a result of the initial introduction of this security action plan, incidents throughout the airport have been reduced by 43%, she says.
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