PHILIPSBURG--Media practitioners whom government approve to attend its live weekly Council of Ministers press briefings will be subjected to scans by having to go through a metal detector or to be scanned with a handheld wand and have their bags visually scanned before they enter the press briefing room.
This regulation is part of the new security procedures for the live Council of Ministers press briefings, which were outlined in a letter from Department of Communication (DComm) Department Head Maurice Lake sent to the media on Tuesday afternoon along with the Media Accreditation Policy 2022.
Lake said media practitioners who would like to be accredited by government would be required to acknowledge that they have received, read and understood the policy by signing a consent form and returning it within two weeks. Those who fail to return it will have their media passes retracted and those who respond will be required to apply for new media passes, which will be valid for one year.
According to the new security procedures based on the Live Council of Ministers Press Briefing Rules and Procedures Policy, members of the press who are authorised to attend the briefings will have to present their new media passes at the reception on entering the Government Building. The press member will then receive a colour-coded plastic chip. Every Wednesday the members of the press will receive another colour at the reception. The colour will be determined by DComm and given through government’s Executive Protection Unit (EPU).
This coloured chip will then be presented to the members of EPU at the entrance of the meeting room.
“Once it is verified, the member of the press will be asked to hand it over and the press member will be scanned with a walk-through metal detector or a handheld wand prior to being allowed to enter the press briefing room,” Lake said in the letter. “If the press member is in the possession of a bag, they will be asked to open the bag and a quick visual scan will be done of its contents. Those refusing to comply will be denied entry.”
