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Contact:
Primus Hutchinson
Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - Government has appointed the Royal St. Lucia
Police Force as the lead agency responsible for ensuring that all the seaports
on the island comply with all the newly implemented International Ship and Port
Security Code required for port facilities and vessels operating worldwide.
Director of Maritime Affairs at the St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority
(SLASPA), Dermot Saltibus, says the security code is a set of guidelines,
developed by the International Community through an amendment of the
International Convention for the safety of life at sea, known as the SOLAS
Convention.
According to Mr. Saltibus, the designated authority, the Royal St. Lucia Police
Force will be fully responsible to enforce the regulations that mandate
compliance with the SOLAS Convention.
The compliance procedure involved completion and approval of assessment for the
various port facilities, Mr. Saltibus said. He added that SLASPA had developed
port facility security plans that were to be approved by the designated
authority. Among the plans being finalised, are a series of training programmes
for port facility operators and the need to appoint port facility security
officers.
Mr. Saltibus warned that the consequence of non compliance of this security code
could be catastrophic to St. Lucia, as well as the rest of the OECS countries.
“What that means is, if a country does not comply and a vessel, which visits
such a country intend to proceed to, for example, a port in the United States,
the US Maritime Agency, has indicated that such a vessel will be denied access”,
Mr. Saltibus explained.
These measures were spearheaded by the United States Government, following the
9- 11 incident. Implementation of the International Ship and Port Security Code
comes into effect on July 1, 2004.
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