Port of Greenville Workers Begin Enrollment for Federal Port Security Credential
May 29, 2008
TSA Public Affairs (Sari Koshetz): (305) 432-0076
U.S. Coast Guard Public Affairs (LT Teresa Hatfield): (601) 636-5516
Greenville, Miss. – Port and long shore workers, truckers and others at the Port of Greenville today will begin to enroll in the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a security threat.
"The start of enrollment here is one more step in our effort to prevent persons who are a threat from gaining access to secure areas of port facilities," said Maurine Fanguy, TWIC program director for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). "We appreciate the support of our partners at the Port of Greenville for helping to make one of the world's most advanced interoperable biometric systems a reality."
The Port of Greenville TWIC enrollment center joins the Port of Memphis, the Port of Catoosa and the Port of Vicksburg and will be followed by the Port of Little Rock in the near future, bringing the total number of TWIC enrollment centers in the Lower Mississippi River Captain of the Port Zone to five and nationwide to 116 sites. Ultimately, the program will be rolled out to 147 enrollment centers and will vet more than 1 million maritime transportation system workers through April 2009.
"Access control is the cornerstone of security. TWIC enhances maritime security in the Port of Greenville, at facilities and on board vessels that are required to have a Coast Guard-approved security plan," said Coast Guard Port Security Specialist Phil Boruszewski. "TWIC helps prevent unauthorized individuals, weapons and dangerous substances from entering secure areas."
A tremendous amount of planning and work has been done collectively by TSA, the Coast Guard, the Western Mississippi Area Maritime Security Committee and other maritime security stakeholders to ensure a successful and smooth transition in preparation for this critical phase of the TWIC program.
Workers at the Port of Greenville are able to pre-enroll for TWIC online at www.tsa.gov/twic or the Coast Guard's Homeport site, http://homeport.uscg.mil. Pre-enrolling speeds up the process by allowing workers to provide biographic information and schedule a time to complete the application process in person. This eliminates waiting at enrollment centers and reduces the time it takes to enroll.
The TWIC Enrollment Center is located at 800 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Unit B19, Greenville, Miss. 38703-2763. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As the state's largest river port, Greenville is well known in the shipping and towboat industries. The newly installed 60-ton covered bridge crane is the largest crane in the world, spanning four barges.
"We are totally supportive of TWIC," said Greenville Port Director Tommy Hart. "We will be the first to be on line to get the credential."
