Parliament has yesterday issued a deadline warning to the Minister of Internal Affairs, David Panda Noah, and the Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon, to face Members of Parliament over the Imposition of $25 for airport security services.

In August this year, Government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, announced it has stopped paying for security services both for inbound and outbound passengers at the Lungi International Airport.

Following the announcement, the House of Parliament moved a motion to summon the Minister of Transport and Aviation and the Internal Minister to justify the government’s decision before MPs, but since then, the Ministers did not turn up to MPs summon, goading the Legislative House to angrily draw a deadline for them.

The Ministers have been given Wednesday next week, to avail themselves before MPs without fail.
SECURIPORT, as it is called, is a security service rendered to passengers at Lungi Airport that the Government of Sierra Leone was paying for since 2016 but ceased doing so at the end of August this year.

Government used to pay $40 as a security fee for each inbound and outbound passenger, but that has now been re-negotiated to $25, something lower than the initial amount paid by government.

A press statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs says, Sierra Leone Government stopped paying the fee because of global economic quagmire that has badly affected the country’s economy, further explaining that the fees collected by SECURIPORT will allow authorities to utilize cutting- edge border control technology tools to ensure the safety of passengers, air installations, and other airport related hardware and equipment.