The Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international airports are planning to buy and install anti-terrorism equipment in order to upgrade security and increase passenger safety, airport officials said on Tuesday.
“We have to anticipate terrorist attacks in order to outperform [terrorists] the best way we can by equipping ourselves with the most modern tools,” said Khek Norinda, communication manager for Societe Concessionnaire de l’Aeroport, the French company running the two airports.
SCA tentatively plans to buy specialized equipment that can detect whether people are carrying drugs or explosives, as well as more equipment to better detect fake passports, he said.
On Monday, the New Media Development Association of Japan, which develops electronic passport technology and works on airport security, held a one-day seminar in Phnom Penh on airport safety.
Tea Sutha, under secretary of state for the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, told the seminar that the government wants the NMDA to assess Cambodia’s airport security needs. Vann Chanty, a civil secretariat aviation officer, said the assessment will take three months to complete.
On March 2, the Interior Ministry’s immigration department installed two e-passport machines in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports in an effort to stop people from using fake passports, said Khourn Thongsin, SCA assistant communications manager.
For $20, Cambodian citizens are now able to purchase stickers for their passports that can be read by the e-passport machines, to speed up the processing of passengers through immigration, Khourn Thongsin said.
The stickers contain personal records of the passport holder and fingerprints that can be read in 15 seconds.
