Parts arrive for Ogle airport’s broken baggage scanner

Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 February 2020, 18:12 by Writer

The baggage scanner at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport is about to be repaired, now that spare parts have arrived from China.

Airport spokesman, Kit Nascimento says the spares arrived without all of the documents and so they were held up at customs. However, they were due to be released on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Mr. Nascimento says the Chinese-made scanner was purchased in October, 2019, and broke down in December.

He says since then security agents at the airport have been conducting 100 percent manual checks on all passenger baggage.

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) recently confirmed that baggage belonging to all outgoing passengers is being checked.

Nascimento says the American-made scanner that was purchased from the United States some time ago at a cost of US$20,000 will also be repaired and kept on standby to ensure the airport always has one that is functioning properly. “It is our intention to keep the scanners operational all the time,” he told News-Talk Radio Guyana 103.1 FM/Demerara Waves Online News.

Sources say for the past several months, LIAT has had to adjust its schedules somewhat due to the need to ensure all baggage are properly inspected for drugs, guns, ammunition, explosives and other prohibited items.