Let down by security screening at KLIA

Passengers been checking by the auxiliary police personnel at security check point in KLIA yesterday. AZMAN GHANI / The Star

ON Dec 7, 2015, I was at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on my way to Thailand for a business trip. Shortly after passing through the immigration checkpoints, passengers were subjected to the customs and security screening at the main terminal building (MTB).

There was a steady flow of passengers in the queue for the customs and security screening. However, there was no one around to give passengers any guidance or instruction to remove items from their pockets or laptops from bags. Passengers were left on their own to decide what to put on the conveyor belt for the X-ray scanning machine.

A few passengers in front of me triggered the beep sound when passing the walk-through metal detector. When I walked past it myself, there was a beep sound too. I guess it was because I was wearing a belt with a metal flap. Interestingly, there was no officer around to do a manual body follow-up inspection.

There were two uniformed officers sitting in front of the monitor of the X-ray scanner but both of them were busy looking at their mobile phones.

Finding it rather amusing, I stood there for a good five minutes to observe them but they were just too occupied with their phones to notice. By the time I left the customs and security checkpoints, at least 10 passengers had passed through but no one was looking at the monitor of the X-ray scanner at all. The officers were still occupied with their mobile phones.

At Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, the scenario was quite different. After clearing the immigration checkpoints, I saw that each customs and security screening stream was manned by four or five officers.

There was one officer for each stream coordinating the flow of passengers and providing instructions on what to be removed and put on the conveyor belt for the X-ray scans.

All passengers were politely requested to remove their shoes and belts before going through the walk-through metal detector and their belts and shoes were passed through the X-ray scanner.

There was an officer standing by to perform a physical body inspection if the metal detector beeped, and there were two other officers closely watching the X-ray scanner monitor.

There was also a few supervisors on duty to observe the activities at the customs and security checkpoint area. This was really in stark contrast to the situation I observed at KLIA.

Both KLIA and Suvarnabhumi are major aviation hubs in this region and airports do have their own operating procedures, including security checks and surveillance.

But at the end of the day, no stringent procedure or sophisticated technology can help us if the people entrusted to safeguard our nation’s borders fail to do their duty with dedication, commitment and discipline.

I sincerely hope the authorities can evaluate and decide if improvements are needed for the customs and security screenings at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

KLANGBOY

Selangor