Brazilian authorities are said to be hot on the heels of the four men who skyjacked a Trans Guyana plane on Wednesday as differences emerged locally over who should be culpable for the major security lapse at Lethem.

The pilot and eight other passengers on the plane were later allowed by the hijackers to fly from Brazil but not after a harrowing four-hour ordeal that included interception by a Brazilian military jet.

Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj yesterday declared that once his ministry knows what the airlines want for the security of their aircraft only then would he be able to comment on what measures could be taken.

It was not possible yesterday to establish which agency was directly responsible for the security of domestic flights as there were varying views. Director of Civil Aviation, Jeffrey Pierre could not be reached by phone yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian police and military are currently on the heels of the four men who commandeered the Trans Guyana aircraft, Brazilian Ambassador to Guyana, Ney Do Prado Dieguez told Stabroek News yesterday.

Trans Guyana in an effort to beef up its own security yesterday sent in hand scanners to all its agents in hinterland locations. Where there are no agents, pilots will travel with hand scanners.

The Trans Guyana aircraft, a 13-seater caravan was hijacked shortly after takeoff from the Lethem airstrip around 8 am. Among the passengers were GAP/WPA member of Parliament Shirley Melville, C&F proprietor Peter Fraser and four British and Canadian visitors, who were in the country on holiday, and two World Bank officials.

A Government Information Agency (GINA) release quoted Gajraj as saying that just like other business operations, aircraft operators must have their security systems in place. The police force, he said should not be blamed for what happened to the passengers on the hijacked aircraft.

Although the police are to provide service and protection, he said that there is only so much the police can do. Saying that the police have not been recruited to work with aircraft operators, he said that in many developed countries police are not assigned to work with aircraft owners. Noting that no such incident ever occurred on any government aircraft, he referred to the recent stabbing of a pilot on a private aircraft by a passenger. Private airline operators, he said, are taking the lives of their passengers for granted.

Reacting to Gajraj's comments that airlines were responsible for the security of their passengers, Trans Guyana Airways Operations Director, Captain Roy Jainandan said that he was disheartened that the minister in his remarks took a matter of national security so lightly.

He told Stabroek News that security of the airlines should be a collaborative effort. No where in the world are airlines totally responsible for security. Matters of security, he said are vested in the airport authorities, which in the case of Guyana is the Civil Aviation Department (CAD). The police as immigration officials also have their role to play, he said. In carrying out their duty to serve and protect, he added they should have proper screening facilities in place especially at border locations.

The CAD and the police, he said should say to the airlines what they require of them to effectively carry out their duties.

Airlines, he said are required to pay user fees, which includes security, to the airport authorities. This user fee is built into the customers' tickets. He said that the airlines do not have the authority of law enforcement officers to act accordingly.

He said it is easy to "just shut down the service tomorrow until we feel secured. But it would not be the practical thing to do. Security, he reiterated has to be a collaborative effort."

Stabroek News had been unable to contact Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Anthony Xavier to determine who was responsible for the security of remote and hinterland locations. However, his public relations adviser Ajay Baksh told Stabroek News that the minister was seeking the advice of the Ministry of Home Affairs including the police, the CAD and airline operators on the issue of security. It is expected that they will hold a joint press briefing on the issue early next week, he said.

Also commenting on the hijacking, Tourism Minister Manzoor Nadir said that it will have a negative impact on the local industry.

He said that it was not only the security at Lethem but of Kaieteur, Monkey Mountain and Orinduik. Orinduik, next to the Brazilian border, he said has always been vulnerable. ?We have to look at the safety and protection of tourists?. Security, he said, "is a matter for the Home Affairs Minister and the army people. We have to express our concerns to them and leave them to do the thinking and leave them to do the arrangements."

Commenting on the investigations from the Brazilian point of view

the Brazilian Ambassador told Stabroek News that the identities of the hijackers were known and as such investigations were being taken care of by the Brazilian authorities. As soon as he got news of the hijack at noon on Wednesday he contacted the Brazilian authorities. Shortly after, he said that he received a confidential report from Brazil which he has forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here.

Stating that he did not want to make any disclosures because they could jeopardise investigations, he said, however, that it "seems that their (the hijackers') final destination was Venezuela". He believed that their plans were botched as there was no other plane or fuel to take them there on arrival in the State of Roraima.

Based on information received from Lethem where the men arrived on Tuesday afternoon from across the Brazilian border, they have been identified as Ramon Torres, Clovez Santos, Raimundo De Souza and Raimundo Pedro. They were identified by the police in a release issued yesterday afternoon as one Brazilian, two Colombians and one Uruguayan.

The men stayed overnight at the privately-owned Takutu Guest House in Lethem and reportedly paid for their accommodation and meals in Brazilian currency. They came across the border on a regular pick-up that takes passengers to and from Brazil. They checked in at the guest house shortly after 1700 hrs.

The supervisor at the guest house told Stabroek News that they were not suspicious looking. One of them, she said at first pretended he knew no English but then spoke English fairly fluently.