Talks on to pick foreign company

As part of the move to pick a foreign company for overall security management at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the Bangladesh authorities yesterday started negotiation with a firm from the list of four suggested by British High Commissioner Alison Blake.

Two officials of the foreign firm, Redline Assured Security, arrived in Dhaka yesterday and sat with the officials of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) and discussed what might be their area of work, charges and duration of service, said a top official at the civil aviation ministry.

Names of the two Redline officials could not be known immediately.

The British envoy provided the list of the four security firms during a meeting with top government officials on Sunday.

The meeting was held days after the UK government imposed a ban on direct cargo from Dhaka to UK on security grounds and the British prime minister wrote to his Bangladesh counterpart asking for foolproof security at the airport by March 31.

In the March 8 letter, David Cameron called for a visible improvement of airport security by March 31 to avoid further measures like banning of direct passenger Biman flights from Dhaka to London.  On Monday, a steering committee formed for intensive supervision of the airport's security short-listed two British companies -- Redline and Restrata -- and asked their officials to visit Bangladesh as early as possible, said a Caab official.

Two other companies on the list are G4S and Westminster Security Services.

Officials from Restrata may visit Bangladesh today for negotiation, said a ministry official told this correspondent yesterday.

“We are expecting to complete the negotiations by tomorrow (Wednesday) and choose a company,” he said, wishing anonymity.

Today it will also be decided that for how long the company will be hired and for how much money, he added.

The job of the hired company will cover security management, quality control in civil aviation, Aviation Security (AVSEC) screeners training, infrastructural development and cargo security.

After signing a contract with the Caab on March 24, the hired company will deploy its security personnel at the airport the very next day.

The authorities decided to appoint a firm from the list of the British high commissioner because, despite several measures taken during the last few months since October last year, the UK assessments continue to identify a number of weaknesses at the Shahjalal airport, the official said.

ABOUT REDLINE

Headquartered at National Security Training Centre located within Robin Hood Airport at Doncaster in the UK, Redline offers, among other services, aviation security training for senior management team, security managers and ground security supervisors.

It has also courses on threat assessment, recognition of firearms and cargo security.

Its website reads, “At Redline, we work closely with the Department for Transport (DfT), which authorises and certifies security instructors through a number of courses, including aircrew instructors, aviation security instructors, and Recognition of Firearms and Explosives (RFX).”