SECURITY PRIVATIZATION BEST SOLUTION FOR NEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000685 SIPDIS AMMAN FOR TSAR BRYANT CHEVALIER ABU DHABI FOR FAA REP ROY BARNETT AND ICE FRANKFURT FOR TSA OFFICE STATE FOR DS, DSS, DS/T/ATA, AND DS/IP STATE FOR EEB/TRA E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2018 TAGS: EAIR ASEC QA SUBJECT: SECURITY PRIVATIZATION BEST SOLUTION FOR NEW AIRPORT Classified By: Amb. Joseph LeBaron, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- (C) KEY POINTS -------------- -- Based on projected Phase 1 capacity for the New Doha International Airport (NDIA),projected at 24 million passengers/year starting in 2011, the airport will require thousands of security screeners, approximately 860 per shift, according to a private American security consultant. -- Qatar Airways and the GOQ's private consultants want to privatize screening, but the Ministry of Interior (MOI) is not yet fully on board with giving up this responsibility. -- NDIA, based on the current design, will have some of the best access control and screening facilities in the world, though human resources limitations will continue to pose a major challenge to getting security right, according to the same consultant. -------------- (C) COMMENTS -------------- -- After a tough year that saw the Embassy and TSA work closely with the GOQ to improve airport security, particularly for direct flights to the United States, the GOQ seems to be moving in a positive direction on establishing long-term solutions for security screening in staffing and design. -- Privatizing the security screening function seems to be the best solution, as it would remove much of the manpower pressures on the MOI and, if good contractors are used, assure that the job is done right. -- The Embassy continues to work with the GOQ and TSA to encourage a visit to the U.S. of key Qatari aviation security officials, so they can see new checkpoint design features and "non-intrusive" technologies which would enhance Qatar's new airport. END KEY POINTS AND COMMENTS. ¶1. (C) Rich Roth (protect),a private American consultant whose firm CTI Consulting Services has a security contract with the NDIA Committee, told Econoff in late August that the current NDIA design has secondary passenger and luggage screening capability at each gate - i.e., not just one general screening area for the terminal, but individual gate checkpoints. (Note: CTI Consulting Services is a sub-contractor for the project under British firm Control Risk; its mandate covers NDIA, although the firm has some leeway to advise on security conditions at the current Doha International Airport.) Asked why the committee does not want to consolidate screening activities, Roth suggested that Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker just "doesn't want to take any chances." ¶2. (C) The consultants are advising the committee that Qatar could solve its manpower problems with contract screeners, with the MOI playing more of a supervisory and general airport law enforcement role. Al-Baker supports such a move (something he has separately told Econoff) but Roth said the MOI is "still being sensitized" to the inevitability of such a shift. Illustrating this disconnect, MOI Airport Security Director Brigadier Nasser Al-Malki told Econoff September 23 that staffing the new airport will be a huge challenge, and his current staff will need at least to double in size. Though a "hard problem," he asserted the MOI will meet the challenge. Separately, Al-Malki suggested that separate gate screening will not be common practice, but gate screening areas are being integrated into the design to allow the option of supplemental screening. ¶3. (C) Roth assessed that the College of the North Atlantic - Qatar (CNAQ) provides quality training and has the potential to become a major regional training center. (Note: CNAQ is a DOHA 00000685 002 OF 002 Canadian technical institution that includes a security academy among its program areas. With Embassy and TSA support, the MOI has begun training its airport screeners at the college, currently the only entity in Qatar certified by the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct such training). Roth also judged that the CAA's expatriate advisor, Ian Gilchrist, is moving the country's aviation security regulations and standard operating procedures in line with ICAO and Far East Asia models. LeBaron