ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY

The primary components of the weeklong activity are the Regional seminar on Aviation Security which runs from May 14^th to 15^th and the second meeting of the Aviation Security and Facilitation Regional Group which follows from May 16^th to 18^th with both assemblies taking place at the Grand Royal Antiguan Resort.
 

Topics such as insider threats, risk based measures, sustainable security measures, air cargo and travel document security, new technologies and information sharing intelligence will take center stage during discussions.
 

Oversight Officer within the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Coordinator of the five day exercise Mr. Peter Abraham in sighting the importance of the program stated that “While the Caribbean is in a low threat zone we cannot rest our guards in the matter of aviation security. We have got to be proactive and build our mechanisms to guard against any potential threats that may arise as it has been recently discovered that terrorists are now targeting low threat zones in planning deviant activities”.
 

Present at the official opening ceremony was Minister of Civil Aviation the Hon. John Maginley who highlighted the importance of Airport Safety and Security in present times to a small independent tourism based economy.
 

“The industry has grown considerably since the September 11^th attacks on the United States and we have had to make many timely adjustments to keep on par with industry standards thereby keeping our airport operating efficiently”, remarked Minister Maginley.
 

The Civil Aviation Minister views the commencement of airport infrastructural upgrades and improvements as a commitment to the process of continuous development.

Minister Maginley further stated that, “Antigua and Barbuda is committed to continue in our support of the regional activities Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) and I congratulate you on the work being done irrespective of limited funding.”
 

The annual seminars are organized immediately before the regional group meetings to inform participants on the latest developments in AVSEC and that way are prepared for the discussions and agreements to be reached during the meeting.
 

Director General of ECCAA Mr. Donald McPhail in delivering brief remarks to the participants outlined three important conditions deemed necessary for the future development of an effective Civil Aviation Security and Facilitation (CASF). It is estimated that the personnel in the CASF must be competent to carry out their duties, understanding what they do and why they do it; those in authority must support and contribute to CASF and the travelling public must be aware of and recognize the need for CASF.
 

Another Aviation partner the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) was represented by Regional Director Michiel Vreedenburgh who views the seminar as a follow up to the high-level Regional Aviation security conference held in Caracas last February which considered AVSEC critical issues and priorities and adopted a Joint Statement which agreed on collective actions to be taken; regional cooperation, training, technical assistance and Capacity building. Vreedenburgh says that the seminar is a reflection of all of the above.