Bomb scare chases Minister from hotel

Minister of National Security Martin Joseph made a hasty retreat out of the Cascadia Hotel in St Ann’s yesterday, when he was told that a call had been made to the hotel to say that a bomb had been planted there. Joseph, who had only minutes earlier delivered the feature address at the opening ceremony of the first Caribbean Military Chiefs Conference, was invited to take pictures with the visiting military chiefs, when he was told about the bomb threat.

Accompanied by his media specialist Judy Ann Babwah, Joseph walked briskly out of the hotel to a waiting car, which quickly sped away. Visiting military chiefs from St Kitts and Nevis, the Haitian National Police Service, Belize, Barbados, Royal Bahamas, Royal Antigua and Barbuda, and commanding officers and senior officers of units of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, were also forced to evacuate the hotel. The military chiefs gathered in the courtyard of the hotel at first, but were later advised to move towards the security booth. Chief of Defence Staff Ancil Antoine assured Newsday that the army has well trained experts who were dealing with the situation, saying the situation was under control. Antoine later left the hotel in his official escort vehicle.

Doctors who were attending a seminar nearby, hosted by CAREC, were also forced to evacuate the hotel. Prof Courtenay Bartholomew was one of those who stood outside the hotel waiting for clearance to return to the seminar. Bomb experts later advised everyone to move to the security booth. After one hour, the hotel was deemed bomb free and operations resumed at the hotel. Earlier on, during the opening ceremony, Minister Joseph told the military chiefs that because of the Caribbean’s geopolitical centrality, the region is open to a multiplicity of negative attraction.

He added that international criminal elements may seek to engage in terrorism, organised crime, illegal movement of weapons and ammunition, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, illegal migration, illegal exploitation of marine resources and piracy to name a few. “No Caribbean country can cope single-handedly with any of these threats. “Due to the trans-national nature of these international criminal acts, collaboration between and among States is a practical necessity, an imperative,” the Minister said.