PM urges regional leaders to focus resources on security

 Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at a media conference with His Michel Martelly, President of Haiti and US Attorney General Eric Holder at the CARICOM Meeting in Haiti

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Monday called for greater regional security when she opened a meeting in Haiti of CARICOM’s Inter-Sessional Meeting on Strengthening the Regional Crime and Security Agenda and Architecture.

In 2005 regional leaders adopted a management framework for crime and security that urged the heads of governments to unify and harmonise the approach to security in the region. The initiative stressed that it was important for regional leaders to assess the effectiveness and strengthen the security framework to ensure that the appropriate systems and structures were in place to address regional security.

Persad-Bissessar called on her counterparts to demonstrate their commitment to the regional security agenda by ensuring that security is the fourth pillar of CARICOM. 

In this regards, she said governments need to provide the financial and human resources to support the work of IMPACS, the Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre (RIFC) and the Joint Regional Communications Centre (JRCC). In additional they need to agree on a mechanism for sustainability of resources for our regional security agenda and adopt a common regional crime and security strategy.

The Prime Minister said such a strategy must involve several things including:

• trans-border intelligence and information sharing
• targeting criminal assets
• protecting financial systems
• strengthening regional security systems and human resource capabilities
• heightened awareness of maritime and airspace
• the use of modern technologies and a scientific approach to crime fighting
• the enhancement of justice systems
• the capacity to combat cyber crime
• addressing the causes of crime and insecurity
• the improvement of CARICOM’s resilience to natural and man-made disasters

Persad-Bissessar stressed the need for an interconnected approach to fighting crime. She also expressed her intention as Lead Head for Security in CARICOM and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, her willingness to establish centralized Coordination Centre to implement such an approach.

The CARICOM Inter-Sessional Meeting will continue until Wednesday. On her arrival in Haiti over the weekend the PM talked with Gideon Hanoomansingh about her agenda for discussions with her regional colleagues. (click on image)