News Desk
In a step toward strengthening the country’s aviation security, the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) has launched its first batch of Security Officer training — a program officials describe as part of a broader effort to professionalize airport protection and raise technical standards across the sector.
The inaugural ceremony, held at the Hulhulé Island Hotel (HIH), drew senior figures from the nation’s security establishment. Chief among them was the Controller General of Immigration and former Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Faseeh, whose presence underscored the program’s significance at a moment when aviation security standards face renewed scrutiny. Also in attendance were General Manager Hassan Asheeth, head of MACL’s Estate Security Service Department, along with senior departmental officials — a gathering that reflected the institutional weight behind the initiative.
The five‑day programme, conducted by the National College of Policing and Law Enforcement, brings together twenty‑eight officers from MACL’s Estate Security Service (ESS). For many, it marks the first structured training of its kind within the company, and for MACL, it signals a shift toward a more disciplined, standards‑driven security culture.
The curriculum blends theory with hands‑on instruction. Officers will study legal frameworks and professional ethics, learn patrolling techniques, practice evidence identification, and undergo self-defence and physical fitness training. Teamwork — often the least visible but most essential component of airport security — is woven throughout the course.
For an industry where a single lapse can ripple across borders, the recent robbery involving cash brought in for outbound passengers — a breach that raised uncomfortable questions about airport vigilance — has sharpened the urgency of reform. Against that backdrop, MACL’s move is both practical and symbolic: a recognition that the front lines of airport security begin not with technology, but with the people trained to use it.
The program’s launch, modest in scale but ambitious in intent, suggests that the country’s busiest gateways are preparing for a future in which security is not merely a requirement, but a craft — one shaped by discipline, professionalism, and the lessons of recent vulnerabilities.
