| Hakim Hayat |
BRUNEI International Airport on late Thursday evening tested the readiness of the country’s different first-responders and security agencies in neutralising a threat to the airport’s security during an exercise.
The Security Emergency Exercise 2018, which involved over 350 personnel from different agencies, was based on a scenario of a plane hijacked by a passenger before the flight was scheduled to take off.
Lasting for about six hours and 30 minutes, the drill was conducted to ensure the readiness of the different agencies in their response to security threats, especially in testing the effectiveness in relaying and obtaining information and also of the communication systems between agencies of interest at the Brunei International Airport.
According to the Acting Director of Civil Aviation, the exercise was aimed at assessing the efficiency and effectiveness in coordinating and managing emergencies that involve flight operations and terminal building services.
Observing the security exercise was Minister of Defence II, Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof who is also the Chairman of the National Security Committee, and Minister of Communications Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof. Also in attendance were members of the National Security Committee and the National Civil Aviation Security Committee.
The security exercise which commenced at 9.30pm saw the presence of different agencies at the Brunei International Airport including the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Communications (MinCom), Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), Fire and Rescue Department (FRD), Immigration and National Registration Department, Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) and other agencies of interest. The exercise concluded at about 3.30am yesterday.
Towards the conclusion of the security exercise, an evaluation was made to identify the effectiveness of response procedures during the security drill.