BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force recently informed of a new Six-Point Plan designed to combat crime, specifically major crimes, which include gun-related crime. Once fully put in action, the full effects of the plan would not be realised for sometime.
Former Minister of National Security and Founder of Operation Rescue G. A. Dwyer Astaphan, while speaking with this publication said the plan is commendable but supplementary action needs to be taken.
Astaphan said because the guns used in the commission of crimes are not manufactured in the Federation, they must be coming from somewhere.
“From the policing and security side, we have to understand that most of the violent crime we are seeing now is gun violence and we know that all of the guns are imported. So one of the priorities that the authorities must hold is interdiction of weapons coming in, prevention of weapons coming in. That means your air space, your maritime space, your coastal areas have to be under strict observation and surveillance.”
He said the Federation’s porous borders need to be addressed with urgency, especially since they are avenues through which guns and other contraband could be smuggled into the country.
“For a couple of years, the country was without its major maritime resources in the two vessels – The Stalwart and The Ardent. That made our coastal waters and our coastland extremely vulnerable. I don’t know to what degree of efficiency there is aerial reconnaissance, I don’t know how very tight the coastal monitoring is and apart from the fact that the Coast Guard has been low on actual tools and resources, the manpower has been an ongoing or worsening problem.”
While Astaphan indicated that there is need for an injection of resources into the maritime arm of the Defence Force, he opined that that might prove challenging given the situation which the current Government inherited from the previous administration.
“So the plan, I think, is a step in the right direction but, whether the resources and tools are there, the Coast Guard needs to be outfitted and that is going to take time and money. And as much as I would like not to keep harping on the past, it is inescapable that the things that are urgently required by the new administration to improve what needs to be improved upon are going to be more of a challenge to get done, simply because of the squandermania that took place before they got into office.
“It is nothing short of criminal, in my opinion, for a government to have sat for almost two years with its major maritime assets sitting on dry land. The waters of St. Kitts and Nevis have been open to anybody. So my concern is in our maritime areas, our coasts, not just the official points of entry although those need to be monitored very, very closely…”
Astaphan also expressed his concern about the Ferry Terminals on St. Kitts and Nevis, suggesting that regular checks must be carried out there to guard against the movement of contraband.
He described the police’s Six-Point Plan as a “well-intentioned” one which “will yield some results”, but reiterated that “there is more that needs to be done”.
The “more”, he indicated, includes the complete assistance of the public in crime-fighting matters.
