Da­reece Po­lo

One of four new­ly ac­quired port scan­ners was com­mis­sioned to­day at the Port of Port of Spain by Fi­nance Min­is­ter Colm Im­bert and Works and Trans­port Min­is­ter Ro­han Sinanan. Two will be sta­tioned there, with the oth­ers at the Port of Point Lisas.

Im­bert said the scan­ners will im­prove de­tec­tion of il­le­gal con­tra­band, nar­cotics, and weapons. They can process up to 25 con­tain­ers per hour, far sur­pass­ing the pre­vi­ous scan­ner’s 60 per day.

Au­thor­i­ties plan to scan 75 per cent of all con­tain­ers to meet in­ter­na­tion­al stan­dards, but act­ing Comp­trol­ler of Cus­toms Ri­ad Ju­man is push­ing for full screen­ing.

A spe­cialised ra­di­a­tion com­mit­tee will be set up for health and safe­ty.