In brief
- Somaliland Sun reported on 2013-04-22 that Berbera Airport's automated body and luggage search machine had malfunctioned for the second time.
- The report said passengers returned to physical searches and that a $10 levy continued to be charged while the machines lay unused.
- No official from the Ministry of Aviation was contacted for comment before publication, and the report does not establish what happened to the machines after April 2013.
On 22 April 2013, Somaliland Sun reported that passengers going through Berbera Airport had gone back to physical searches after the airport's automated body and luggage search machine malfunctioned for the second time. The machine had been repaired about a month and a half earlier, according to the same report.
The report also said the machines were installed the previous year, although the exact installation date is not given. The earlier failure it describes is dated only as about two weeks before 22 April 2013.
What the report says about maintenance
According to Somaliland Sun, the Ministry of Aviation had not employed a technician skilled in repairing the machines, and depended on short-term contractors from Kenya instead. The report names no contractor, no technician and no contract terms, and gives no value, duration or scope for that arrangement. It does not say whether any contractor was engaged at the time of publication.
The same report states that although the machines had malfunctioned two weeks earlier, the aviation ministry had not yet re-contracted the Kenyan technicians. It says the $10 levy on passengers, which it describes as parliament-approved for maintenance expenditure, continued to be charged while the machines lay unused. The report does not state the currency of the $10, and it presents the levy and passengers' reaction to it as what passengers wondered, not as a figure confirmed by the ministry or by parliament.
What is not established
Somaliland Sun reported that by the time of going to press it had not been able to contact any officials from the ministry for comment. No ministry statement confirming the malfunction, the levy or the contractor arrangement appears in the record, and no official response is quoted.
Nor does the report establish what has happened since April 2013. It does not say the machines were repaired, replaced or reinstated, and it does not say the levy was stopped, reduced or spent on maintenance. It gives no purchase price, procurement record or maintenance budget for the machines, and no figure for the cost or the scale of the disruption. Readers should treat the April 2013 account as the state of things at that date, not as a description of Berbera Airport today.
Frequently asked questions
What malfunctioned at Berbera Airport in April 2013?
Somaliland Sun reported on 2013-04-22 that the airport's automated body and luggage search machine malfunctioned for the second time, after being repaired about a month and a half earlier.
What caused the failure?
The report does not give a cause. It states only the ministry had not employed a technician skilled in repairing the machines and depended on short-term contractors from Kenya.
How did the malfunction affect airport activities?
According to Somaliland Sun on 2013-04-22, passengers went back to physical searches while the machines lay unused. The report gives no measured figure for delays, cost or throughput.