THIS is with reference to the report “‘On sale’ PIA has 304 employees per plane, NA committee told” (July 9), which, among other things, quoted an Airports Security Force (ASF) spokesperson as saying that outdated security gadgets were being used owing to shortage of funds.

I believe that the statement only ref- lected half the story. It is also essential to ensure that available funds are utilised prudently to purchase the correct gadgets that are fit for purpose.

People who frequent Karachi airport are familiar with the usage of a handheld device with an antenna by airport security personnel to detect explosives at the entry checkpoint. It has been more than 10 years since Samuel Tree, the fraudster behind the ‘invention’ of this ridiculous device, was jailed for hoodwinking government agencies in the United Kingdom.

Ridiculously, this device, based on pseudo-science, continues to be employed at the international airport in Karachi.

As such, it is incredibly unfortunate that the country, plagued by terrorism, would still succumb to bogus security gadgets instead of exercising due diligence before procuring them.

Effective immediately, these tools should be scrapped, and it would be beneficial in the interest of accountability to ascertain why the taxpayers’ money was spent on such a rather useless security device.

Besides, an impartial investigation needs to be conducted to answer some relevant questions. Did the ASF continue to allow the use of these ‘detectors’ after discovering that they were useless? In essence, how much money was spent on procurement and training? And, most importantly, who was responsible for procuring this bogus device?

Undoubtedly, these measures would help identify the extent of corruption as well as incompetence involved in misma- nagement and draining the hardearned money of taxpayers, and hopefully guarantee transparency in the future.

Arsalan Ahmad
Coventry, United Kingdom

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2024