Crime, security high on OAS agenda

In preparation for tomorrow’s assembly, Caricom foreign affairs ministers have been meeting in the Bahamas since May 29 to discuss a host of issues which are of vital importance to the region and are likely to be discussed over the next four days in Florida.

High on the agenda for discussion at the upcoming OAS General Assembly are transnational criminal youth gangs and special security concerns of small island states of the Caribbean. At a recent Caricom national security ministers meeting in Port-of-Spain, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said the issue of deportees from the United States coming to Caribbean territories posed certain challenges where crime in the region is concerned.

In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan to some Caribbean islands in September 2004, Manning said those territories were vulnerable to the threats posed by transnational criminals and should receive certain security considerations. The Prime Minister has previously suggested that coastal radar systems (similar to one which TT acquired from Israel and will be fully operational by July) be established in Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Manning has also suggested that TT Coast Guard vessels assist in patrolling those areas. Government is currently in the process of acquiring three offshore patrol vessels and additional naval vessels from Israel to boost the strength of the Coast Guard. The National Security Council has already agreed to spend US$6.1 million to purchase two of the four gunships of a new helicopter squadron that will be based at Carlsen Field and will be operational within the next five to six months.

These helicopters will be used primarily for drug interdiction operations. Manning said a turnkey arrangement has been made with the suppliers. This means the gunships will come with combat-trained pilots and crews who will conduct initial drug interdiction operations while simultaneously training local military personnel to eventually take over the operations.

Trade and investment will also be high on the OAS’ agenda, and Foreign Affairs Minister Knowlson Gift will discuss Caricom’s candidature of Port-of-Spain as the headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Secretariat tomorrow. While Gift is making his presentation in Florida, TT’s Ambassador to Venezuela Sheelagh de Osuna will be making a similar FTAA presentation to government ministers, diplomats and business people in Puerto Rico.