Don’t harass passengers

State Minister for Civil Aviation M Mahbub Ali yesterday asked the immigration police not to question passengers unnecessarily during immigration at the Dhaka airport.

He also instructed the immigration authorities not to interrogate all passengers.

The junior minister said around 21,000 passengers travel through this airport every day. Only those who need to be questioned should be interrogated.

Mahbub Ali said this while talking to reporters after visiting Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. He also spoke to passengers about the quality of service and their problems.

He said stern actions will be taken against airport officials or employees for their negligence in carrying out their responsibilities and in case of harassing passengers.

He said he has talked to custom officials at the airport to ensure that all passengers' bags are not checked. Only those who are suspected, based on information, will be checked. Only 1 to 2 percent of the passengers will be checked separately.

Mahbub said preparations are ongoing to launch e-gate at the airport soon.

Regarding the ground handling service at the airport, he said the civil aviation ministry has formed a team who will visit the airport three days a week to oversee the management.

Addressing the officers and employees in charge of ground handling, he said those who are on duty at the airport should arrive at their work 30 minutes before the scheduled time. "And they will go out from the airport after ending their schedule time so that we can ensure quality service to passengers."

Asked whether he was satisfied with the current situation at the airport, Mahbub Ali said, "I will not say that we are able to manage everything. We also have some limitations. Due to various difficulties, we are not able to provide proper service. We are working on this. We can't say that some mismanagement is not taking place…"