The cdH (Centre Démocrate Humaniste - the humanist democratic centre party) has, on Wednesday, denounced the attitude of the federal government when faced with the issue of safety in transport premises. This follows the revelations relating to the requests of SPF Mobilité (responsible for ensuring transport operation) concerning Brussels National Airport. In the eyes of the centrist party, the Michel government has oscillated between its wait-and-see policy and negligence.
After the attempted attack on the Thalys rail system at the end of August 2015, a strengthening of security measures was announced. The Minister for Transport, Jacqueline Galant, showed little indication of this happening after her wish to set up control systems, for example, detectors, in Belgian stations.
“Nine months on, the Minister has been to see what goes on in Paris and in Spain to ensure transport security but nothing has changed,” observes the deputy Vanessa Matz.
The daily newspaper L'Echo reveals on Wednesday that the Minister's office had, moreover, been against her refusal to give in to the demands of SPF Mobilité to increase security measures at Brussels National Airport, in the absence of government agreement. The measures apparently did not come within the criteria governing the allocation of the 400 million euros spent by the government as part of the fight against terrorism.
“If information is known, it is serious and it is no longer simply a case of the wait-and-see policy operating but downright negligence, and this should be subject to an investigation by a parliamentary inquiry committee. This also confirms that the resources devoted to fighting terrorism are not sufficient. We are not reassured by the performance in this respect during financial year which has just finished,” Mme Matz stresses.
(Source: Belga)
