BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Second Secretary of the British High Commission in Barbados, Daniel Currethers, yesterday (May 17) paid a courtesy call on members of the Ministry of National Security, with whom he held a brief meeting.
At the meeting, the participants celebrated the achievements of Fire Sub-Officer Abdias Samuel, who recently represented the Caribbean on its preparedness on weapons of mass destruction in The Hague, Netherlands, which was sponsored by the British government.
Present at the meeting were Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of National Security Astona Browne, Chief Fire Officer Hester Rawlins, National Disaster Coordinator Carl Herbert, Currethers and Samuel.
Currethers said the British government was delighted that Samuel was able to visit The Hague and brief member states of the Chemical Convention on the progress to develop the regional capability amongst the Caribbean countries to much casualty incidents involving chemical weapons or the misuse of toxic chemicals.
Currethers also thanked the government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Chief Fire Officer for allowing Samuel to be present at the convention.
Samuel said the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) saw it important that member states receive technical assistance, protection and give support in terms of training personnel and providing equipment for detection, protection and decontaminated purposes in event of a chemical weapon attack.
“The mechanism began in 2007 for World Cup…there was a requirement of having this capacity for World Cup Games,” Samuel said.
He said 13 fire officers and nine police officers from Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, Dominica, St. Vincent and Grenada were trained in 2007.
Samuel said that his recent presentation, when he represented the Caribbean at The Hague, was well received and thanked the British High Commission for their support of the Caribbean in capacity building process.
“I look forward to continue making St. Kitts and Nevis proud,” he declared.
Herbert said it was a proud moment for St. Kitts and Nevis as a small island state to be at the conference and representing the Caribbean.
He said Samuel had demonstrated a high level of enthusiasm, commitment, dedication and professionalism and was able to excel in his field.
“I commend him for his work and hope to one day see him and another individual as Leaders for Caribbean Search and Rescue Teams,” he said.
