By Abass Jalloh
Effective yesterday, 1st September 2022, passengers departing and arriving in Sierra Leone started payment of twenty-five dollars (25$) Security Processing fee which was announced by the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Some passengers are of the view that the said payment is a double fee charged for the services, saying that Airlines do include security service charges in the price of the Air Tickets, Therefore, paying again to SECURIPORT will be paying double for the same service.
In response, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Augustine Sahr Sheku, has clarified that the twenty-five dollars (25$) that is to be paid as a security fee at the Freetown International Airport in Lungi is not included in the cost of the flight tickets.
He explained that the government signed a contract with the security company, SECURIPORT in 2012 to take up payment for security processing for all inbound and outbound passengers due to the Ebola outbreak.
The ministry in a press statement dated 26th August 2022 noted that the Government of Sierra Leone would cease to pay for the security services of SECURIPORT and that “passengers will meet the cost of the said services”, noting that since 2016 the government has been meeting the cost of the said services at the airport.
“However, considering the adverse impact of the world economic crisis on our economy, the government can no longer meet the initial service cost of US$40 for each inbound and outbound passenger,” the minister noted, stating that the government engaged the management of SECURIPORT and agreed for a negotiated fee of 25 dollars per passenger.
Accordingly, passengers are required to pay the fee through an online platform that will be developed by the security company.
The fees collected by SECURIPORT will allow authorities to utilize cutting-edge border control technology tools to ensure the safety of passengers, airport installations, and other airport-related hardware and equipment, according to the ministry.
The imposition came following a statement two months ago by authorities that they were “required to charge airport security fee of $25 (credit/debit card processing fees are not included) to each departing and arriving passenger to/from all international airports in Sierra Leone.”
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