Investments being made to improve port security – Minister Chang

Photo caption: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, the Hon. Dr. Horace Chang engages in conversation with a construction worker during a tour of the Sangster International Airport on Thursday, August 18 in Montego Bay, St. James. The airport is currently undergoing expansion of its runway.

Investments being made to improve port security – Minister Chang

With a continued increase in passengers transiting local ports of entry, the Government has made the necessary investments to maintain security and streamline entry at airports. Approximately 66.7 million tourists transited the Sangster International Airport (SIA) between 2003 and 2022.

Minister of National Security, the Hon. Dr. Horace Chang indicated that the growth in visitor arrivals through the airport, located in his St. James North West constituency corroborated the upgrades to the SIA.

“That is why we are investing in expanding the airport facility and the operators are also expanding the terminal facility to accommodate even higher numbers of visitors,” Minister Chang said during a tour of the airport in Montego Bay, St. James yesterday (Thursday, August 18, 2022).

He added that border management is essential in maintaining the integrity of the country’s national security apparatus and border security framework is crucial to Jamaica’s economic and development goals, given the country’s geographic location.

“Improving our border management systems enhances the safety and security of people utilizing our ports of entry for legitimate purposes and ensures that visitors to our island have a welcoming, safe and efficient experience upon entry,” noted Dr Chang.

He added: “The Government has approved the most significant investment in the

expansion of the Sangster International Airport since its construction in 1947 and when completed, we will have the most modern airport in the Caribbean”.

Outside of formal entry ports, there are nearly 200 illegal points of entry across the island, which presents a challenge to national security and are points through which the illicit drugs-for-guns trade operates.

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The Minister said the issue is being tackled by a consolidated approach by the Jamaica Customs, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA).

Minister Chang was also accompanied on the tour of the SIA by the Minister of Transport and Mining, the Hon. Audley Shaw; Minister of State in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Homer Davis; Chief Executive Office of the Passport Immigration and Citizen Agency (PICA), Mr. Andrew Wynter and Chief Executive Officer of the SIA, Mr. Shane Munroe along with other airport officials.