Defence Force To Get New Vessels

The outgoing US ambassador made the announcement about the vessels, but he did not give a timeframe.

"Bahamian law enforcement cooperation has played a key role in the Department of Defence’s decision to include The Bahamas in (Operation) Enduring Friendship. This programme is going to provide millions of dollars in assets as well as training to the Bahamas’ Defence Force," Mr. Rood explained.

"(This will include) two go-fast vessels with state-of-the-art radar and communications equipment. All of these programmes came about because of the success of our law enforcement relationship…embodied by the OPBAT programme."

Addressing the concerns caused by the potential removal of the US Army helicopters from OPBAT, Mr. Rood again assured that "the US government remains firmly committed" to OPBAT, and that an inter-agency group is now working to develop an acceptable alternative to the US Army support.

"I’m convinced that with the renewed interest in the programme, the support we’ve had for the programme from (Florida Governor Jeb Bush) and the two Florida senators and many, many others, that we’re going to end up with a programme that would be better equipped to address the flows coming from (South America) and into The Bahamas," he said.

"The spirit of cooperation established through our law enforcement cooperation in OPBAT has opened other doors as well," Mr. Rood said. "In the past year alone, we’ve finalized an agreement regarding the Container Security Initiative, as well as the Mega Ports programme in Freeport," the ambassador said.

"The continued success of the Shiprider Programme, which is an outgrowth of the Comprehensive Maritime Agreement, has become a model for the entire region."

Mr. Rood and Minister Mitchell opened the annual Narcotics Joint Task Force meeting on Thursday, surrounded by the hierarchy of the Royal Bahamas Police and Defence Forces, officials from the US Customs and Border Patrol, Drug Enforcement Agency, Coast Guard and U.S. Embassy.

Superintendent Basil Adams of the Turks and Caicos Police Force was also at the meeting.

Minister Mitchell noted that resources are essential to winning the drug war.

"Retrenchment is not an option. If we retrench, then the forces of darkness take over," the minister said.

"We have a daily struggle in this country to convince…especially the young that it pays to be on the side of the good. Fortunately, the resources that we employ help to ensure that, for the majority, they support good over evil."

Retrenchment refers to the reduction of expenditures in order to become financially stable. Mr. Mitchell was advocating at the least the maintenance of the current level of expenditure on joint US-Bahamas drug interdiction efforts.

He referred to the work being done by CICAD – the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission – to encourage the sharing of technical and financial resources amongst member states of the hemisphere.

The minister reiterated that the Ministry of National Security in June relocated some of its functions to Church House, which now houses the National Anti-Drug Secretariat. He said the administrative process for this secretariat is "in the process of being fully activated."

He added that National Security has also established a private security unit in Church House.

"This unit will act to bring greater effectiveness and efficiency in the security service delivered to hotels and other private business establishments," he said.

"It’s to give special attention to the delivery of specialized training that will enable the private security agents to become more effective at interdicting the marketing of drugs to hotel guests, and at discouraging the consumption of illegal drugs at hotels and other large properties."

Mr. Mitchell reiterated that the construction of a Royal Bahamas Defence Force base at Inagua is still "under active consideration."

Sixty metric tons – 132,277 plus pounds – of cocaine entered Haiti last year, bound mostly for the United States, according to officials. Thus, Mr. Rood applauded the decision to train Haitian police at the local Police College.

"I applaud the Bahamian government’s initiative to provide training at the Police College for members of the Haitian National Police. We have seen in the past few years how Haiti has become the preferred destination for drugs coming from Venezuela," Mr. Rood said.

"In fact, our experts estimate that 60 metric tons of cocaine entered Haiti last year. Common sense and seizures tell us that this cocaine is not destined for Haiti, so the work that you’re doing in this regard is very, very critical."

He also commended the decision to have a vetted member of the Haitian police force work with Bahamian law enforcement officials in Inagua. He said the decision reflects the important role that a strengthened Haitian National Police Force can play in fighting narcotics trafficking and illegal migration through The Bahamas.

"Haitian police officers working with Bahamian counterparts will help gather information on sloops and their crews that travel from Haiti into The Bahamas. Information gathered will help us identify suspicious activities and serve as a deterrent," Mr. Rood said.

Seizure statistics, according to the ambassador, suggest that The Bahamas is being "overrun" with marijuana, both homegrown and trafficked from Jamaica.

Mr. Rood said he was heartened, though, that much of the information received regarding marijuana fields in the Family Islands came from residents concerned that the drug trade would bring other crime to their communities.

He also asserted cooperation between the United States and The Bahamas has led to the decrease of flows of illegal migrants through The Bahamas and an increase in the number of migrant cases that are detected.

Ambassador Rood also noted that there has been a steady increase in the flow of illegal immigrants into The Bahamas recently from Brazil, which he suggested may be caused by changes in Mexican law. Mexico now requires persons travelling to that country from Brazil to have a visa.

"It’s clearly an area where we need to work together to ensure that this doesn’t continue to grow and become a more significant problem in the years ahead," he told Bahamian authorities.

The next such meeting is in June 2007, and Mr. Mitchell assured that the commitments made at Thursday’s meeting were bipartisan commitments with bipartisan support. This is to ensure that whichever party is in government when the next meeting is held will be bound to honour those commitments.

The joint taskforce has met regularly since 1987 as a forum for Bahamian, American and Turks and Caicos officials to discuss and assess future joint counter-narcotics efforts.