THE Federal Aviation Administration has granted the Commonwealth Ports Authority some $6 million worth of grants to improve the local airport’s security system.
In an interview, CPA Executive Director Carlos H. Salas, who just arrived from a week-long security conference in Nevada, said permanent federal personnel will soon arrive to take over the airport screening process in the CNMI.
“We will have more than enough (federal) personnel to do this. We’ll make sure that security check won’t be more than 10 minutes,” Salas told Variety in an interview.
He said the federal personnel would come from the Transportation Security Administration.
The federal government began to supervise the CNMI airport screening process after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Salas said the $6 million grant would be used for structural improvement and the purchase of necessary equipment, including surveillance cameras.
“It’s for everything. It’s for the improvement of the whole security system,” he said.
Earlier, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would finance the purchase of sophisticated equipment needed to counter terrorism and related threats such as biochemical attacks and the entry of hazardous materials.
In particular, the FAA wanted to fund the purchase of a big van to serve as a mobile command center.
CPA and FAA representatives headed by Honolulu-based airport chief Ron Simpson had conducted a full-scale disaster drill on Rota recently to prepare airport law enforcement personnel and airline staff for aircraft-related emergencies.
