Photo Caption: Minister of Public Infrastructure, Post, Urban Development, Transport and Energy, Hon Ian Patches Liburd
By Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, St Kitts, October 10, 2019 – Minister of Aviation. Hon Mark Brantley confirmed Wednesday night that the report on the breach of security by Minister of Public Infrastructure, Post, Urban Development, Transport and Energy, Hon Ian Patches Liburd, is with Prime Minister, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris.
Asked by community activist Curtis Crooke about the state of the investigation by the Ministry of Aviation, Mr Brantley informed that a copy of the video of the alleged breach was given to him and he handed it over to the technical people in the Ministry of Aviation, who are the ones who advise him on aviation matters.
“Those experts have done their own analysis. They have come to their conclusion and in consistent with what I think my duty is, those conclusions have been passed to the Office of the Prime Minister,” said Brantley.
He said further action will have to come from the Leader of the Government, the Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris.
Brantley said he expects Dr Harris to bring the matter to the Cabinet.
Minister Liburd has publicly denied on several occasions that he breached security, although the video shows him walking past an airport security officer while she screens an airline employee. The video also shows the airline employee raising his right hand in the air to allow Minister Liburd to pass. It also shows the security officer saying something to minister Liburd, minister Liburd turning to the security officer and then minister then proceeding on his way without being screened.
Security Officer, Lance Corporal Coreen Huggins, who was on duty at the time, in a report to management on the incident, documented that she spoke to minister Liburd and told him that there was a procedure on entering the Access Control Point.
“To this the honourable minister Liburd replied ‘procedure what.’ He was not wearing a safety reflective vest when he was on the apron area at the RLB International Airport,” said a letter from Lance Corporal Coreen Huggins to the management of the St Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA).
Minister Liburd reportedly handed an unchecked package to a crew member of an American Airlines aircraft which was on the ground just before takeoff.
It is said that and several other alleged breaches have resulted in the downgrading of the Robert L Bradshaw International Airport by the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO).