KUCHING, MALAYSIA: More and more people boarding aircraft at the Kuching International Airport are having to hold their pants up with their hands.

The young trend-setters are forced to do so as their belt buckles are confiscated at security checkpoints at the airport.

"Airport security officers are confiscating belts that have large buckles that could easily be turned into a weapon," KIA senior airport manager Sunif Naiman said yesterday after Deputy State Secretary Datuk Morshidi Abdul Ghani opened a one-day occupational safety and health awareness campaign at the airport.

"We don't have the numbers but the number of belts confiscated has increased.

"They may be a beautiful accessory or trendy, but under the heightened security alert at airports across the world, we see these buckles as a threat to safety.

"They therefore come under the list of items that are restricted from being brought into aircraft."

The ones Malaysia Airport security officers look for are buckles that could, for example, be turnedinto a knuckle-duster or a weapon similar to a cock spur.

Even buckles in the shape of a gun are not spared, nor are pendants in the shape of bullets.

Sunif said: "Passengers may claim it's only in the shape of a bullet.

"To us and all security officers at airports around the world, a bullet is a bullet and it could pose a threat.

"We are all operating within Annex 17 of the security guidelines issued by the International Civil Aviation Organisation."

Scissors continue to top the list of items confiscated from passengers at the airport.