CHIEF Executive Officer of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri (CJIA), Mr Ramesh Ghir, has taken issue with what can only be described as cavalier, the utterances of a Fly Jamaica Airways executive over what she perceives to be lax security at the airport.What is even more offending and perplexing, he said in a terse but crisp statement issued late yesterday, is that she didn’t even have the courtesy to raise her concerns with the relevant authorities first before going public with such a damaging remark.

“It is very disappointing and unfortunate that a director of Fly Jamaica would choose to publicly address her concerns about drug incidents at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) without first engaging the airport authorities about such anxiety,” Ghir said in his statement, adding: “As Chairman of the Airport Security Committee and head of the Airport Corporation, I can safely say that no such concern was ever raised with us; not even at the level of the Board of Directors.”

The airline official at reference is Fly Jamaica’s Public Relations Manager, Ms. Roxanne Reece, who, earlier in the day at a press conference, said, among other things, that it is unfortunate that Guyana is plagued by drug smuggling, but that the airline will do whatever it takes necessary to ensure that no such thing occurs on their flights, though admittedly, that’s going to be an uphill battle, given the circumstances.

Besides calling for a more robust system of surveillance, and better remuneration for airport staff so as they won’t yield to the temptation to make a quick buck, Reece said what Fly Jamaica would ideally like to see happen is the implementation of a system that is more efficient and reliable, though that would all depend in the long-run upon the salaries people are paid and the level of people being employed. **

Taking cognizance of the foregoing issues, Ghir said in reply: “We will be happy to engage the staff and directors of Fly Jamaica to address any security-related questions that they may have.”

And, in a spirit of magnanimity, he added: “The airport’s corporation and its security committee remain steadfast to continuously working with its stakeholders to improve passengers’ experience.
“We remain very excited, and look forward to Fly Jamaica getting on board!”