Two scanners for explosive substances will be installed at the Malta International Airport under an agreement signed with the US, which is funding the machines.
The move comes following a wave of international security threats. This month alone a parcel bomb bound for the US was found in Yemen, an alleged “security test bomb” set for Munich was intercepted in Nambia, a separate raft of mail bombs from Greece were addressed to European leaders and Germany received concrete evidence of planned terrorist attacks.
On top of this, at the beginning of the month, the European Commission called on security experts from the 27 member states to start working on proposals aimed at upgrading the security of air cargo.
However, it was yesterday denied that the new machines had come in response to recent security threats – the agreement has long been in the pipeline.
The machines will detect if a person has handled explosives and related materials through swabs and similar sensors, US Ambassador Douglas Kmiec said during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Justice Minister.
The equipment will be used on cargo and luggage if preliminary tests raise suspicion.
The scans, which will be up and running in the coming weeks, will provide added flexibility to airport security and multiply the level of protection on flights.
However, they will only add to technology which has been in use at the airport for more than a decade, Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said.
The memorandum, described as “a win for the defenders of civil order and a loss for the agents of terror” will bind Malta to undergo the necessary training and to use the equipment.
Although the embassy could not quote the price of the machines, it said they were “expensive”. The US Transportation Security Administration will be funding the machines, their shipping, and the first 20,000 swabs. Malta will then be bound to see to their upkeep.
This was not the first time the US was assisting Malta in security, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.
“Through the years the two countries have cooperated in closely related areas such as customs screening, the visa waiver programme and illegal immigration,” he said. Answering questions about the introduction of full body scanners, which have raised debate internationally due to invasion of privacy, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said Malta would follow EU rules. When asked about his personal opinion on the matter, he would only say: “I will follow the best means possible to protect my citizens.”