Sri Lanka beefs up security at BIA, SriLankan and Mihin
Security is expected to be beefed up at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in the wake of the recent global threat of terrorism.
Civil Aviation Authority Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri told the Business Times that Sri Lanka will be beefing up security at the BIA in the context of the global threat of terrorism.
“We would be doing everything possible,” he said in view of ensuring safety at the airport since “terrorism is not confined only to one country.”
At present he noted that very soon they would be advising Mihin Lanka and SriLankan Airlines on the need to be vigilant and take “predictive and proactive measures” in view of the global threat of terrorism onboard the two national carriers.
Mr. Nimalsiri also said that they had already given the two carriers some advice and were in the process of getting more information.Moreover, he pointed out that in the wake of tests being carried out at certain European airports in the use of body scanners they were likely to be used there.
In this context he pointed out that if Sri Lanka is also mandated to use body scanners they too would use these but only “if there is some sort of need or depending on the threat level.”
Currently, Sri Lanka is studying the use of these measures adopted internationally which have come in for protest by people since body scanners subject people to being seen naked.The use of these body scanners now in certain European countries is being carried out in a digital form where the nudity of the person is not evident, he said.Commenting on the use of these scanners at airports, the DGCA said this was the only way in which a person could be detected to ensure that individual is totally innocent.