Tuesday, January 26 – In observance of Customs Week 2010, officers of Her Majesty’s (HM) Customs are visiting various schools in the Territory to educate youth about the department through K-9 demonstrations and operations skits.
Yesterday, officers visited the Willard Wheatley Primary School. Today, Mr. Dean Fahie, the Deputy Comptroller (Enforcement), and officers from the K-9 unit educated youngsters at the First Impressions Child-Care Centre and Primary School with K-9 demonstrations and story-telling.
The four K-9 officers, Mali, Crock, Havoc and Hogard demonstrated to the young onlookers how they can sniff out illegal items such as narcotics and ammunition.
In an interview with the Department of Information and Public Relations, Mr. Fahie explained the importance of having the dogs and children interact with each other. He said, “These activities help HM Customs get our K-9 officers more familiar with children and large crowds; in doing so, we can identify the dogs’ likes and dislikes. This way, we know which dogs to use in different situations.”
Mr. Fahie added, “We also see that the children like the dogs; this is one way to bring some excitement into their daily routines.”
“These activities help the children understand more about the role of HM Customs, and to inform them that being involved with drugs, guns and ammunition is wrong,” said Senior Officer of the K-9 Unit, Mr. Frenchie Gumbs.
Other officers participating in the K-9 Unit demonstrations were Mr. Roberto Harrigan and Mr. Akeed Fahie. They were also joined by Mrs. Annette Moses of the Marine Task Force.
Ms. Dorothea Atterbury, Principal of First Impressions Primary School, said all the children were excited when they heard the dogs were coming.
“They really welcomed the K-9 demonstration; it lets the students recognise that dogs can have responsibility and can be officers too,” said Ms. Atterbury. After the demonstrations, the children were treated to story-telling with Mr. Fahie.
Tomorrow, customs officers will visit the Bregado Flax Educational Centre and on Thursday, they will visit both the Alexandrina Maduro Primary School and the Technical and Vocational Institute in Baugher’s Bay. On Friday, the team will visit students at the Jost Van Dyke Primary School.
Customs Week 2010 began on Sunday with a worship service at the Apostolic Faith Mission in Road Town. Starting yesterday, various HM Customs officers have been co-hosting Morning Devotions on ZBVI Radio 780 AM. At the Old Recreation Grounds last evening, HM Customs played a friendly co-ed softball game against a team from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force.
Tomorrow, HM Customs will host an Importers Symposium on Virgin Gorda in Conference Room B at the Vanterpool Administration Building. The purpose of the symposium is to inform importers about the department’s policies and procedures, in an effort to standardise cargo operations at the various ports in the Territory.
Some of the topics to be addressed include the role of brokers or agents, the clearance of goods on standing deposits, an overview of Customs Automated Processing System (CAPS) and the valuation and classification of goods.
Customs Week was first observed in the Territory in 1997, in recognition of International Customs Day on January 26. This year’s theme is “Expenditure vs. Revenue: Plan, Prioritize to Maximize.”
British Virgin Islands News