| |
Contact:
Julita Peter
Tuesday, March 30, 2004 – A five-member team today, met in St. Lucia to
re-appraise the Regional Security System (RSS). The team met with outgoing
Chairman, St. Lucia’s Prime Minister, Honourable Dr. Kenny Anthony, at his
official residence in Vigie, to chart the way forward for the RSS.
The team, which comprises Major General Cameron Ross of Canada, Mr. Nestor
Ogiluie of Grenada, Col. Maynard of Barbados, Mr. Michel Kaduck of Canada, and
Co-ordinator, Grantley Watson of Barbados intends to visit member state of the
RSS to seek the various publics’ viewpoints on the exercise.
On October 29, 1982, Barbados and four OECS countries - Antigua and Barbuda,
Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines took an important step
towards establishing a Regional Security System (RSS) by signing in Bridgetown,
Barbados, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The move was prompted by
growing concern among the islands’ leaders about the Grenadian regime's
intentions.
Under the RSS, a member state whose security was threatened or who needed other
kinds of emergency assistance could call on other member states. According to
the MOU, members were obliged "to prepare contingency plans and assist one
another on request in national emergencies and threats to national security.
Threats to national security covered by the memorandum included armed
insurgencies.
At a meeting held in St. Lucia on February 19, 1983, the Heads of Government of
St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Vincent and the
Grenadines finalized arrangements for the RSS.
Some 21 years later today, at the meeting in St. Lucia, Mr. Watson noted that
whilst the RSS was set up to deal with insurgence, a major security threat to
the region at the time, current day threats and security concerns were not
envisaged then, such as human trafficking and more recently, terrorism, which
the region is still grappling to understand.
“It is these changes that have prompted the RSS Council of Ministers and
security chiefs to re-examine the organization’s configuration, mandate,
staffing, training, equipment and funding, to ensure that the RSS is able to
effectively respond to contemporary security threats,” Mr. Watson said. He added
that regional capabilities required to successfully counter these threats would
be determined and a regional defense and security strategy established within
RSS member states. The project will be funded largely by the Canadian
government. The process will include an environmental analysis of each RSS
member state and development of a strategic vision for the RSS.
Major-General Ross underscored the importance of the public’s perspective to the
process, in terms of how people see the quality of life in the region. “In many
parts of the world people have focused on security in a post 911 concept
however, what the RSS is focused on in addition to that, are the non-military
perspective threats in localized communities, or the aspects of civil society
that will be required to make improvements to the quality of life of the
region”, he said.
“I am delighted to be part of this team. It is a strong team and we have a very
clear mandate from the Council of Ministers. We hope to be continually engaged
with the Council, government agencies, and through the media, with the public to
provide feedback on the way ahead,” Mr. Ross added.
Dr. Anthony, whose 1-year tenure as Chairman expires on March 31, 2004,
commended the Canadian government for its commitment to financing the revised
project, adding that he was pleased that Canada was taking a leading role in
this initiative.
“We desperately want the people in the member states of the RSS to be involved
in this. The RSS does not belong to government, it belongs to the people of the
region, and it has always been there to provide crucial support in times of
need. One of the things we want to explore is the possibility of adding a little
more value to the RSS, by bridging the gap between the RSS as a regional entity
and the domestic security forces in each of the RSS member states. The region is
beginning to understand that the fight against crime has to be a regional fight;
it can’t be confined purely to the domestic arena,” stated Dr. Anthony.
Dr. Anthony also expressed gratitude to the governments of the United States and
United Kingdom for their support to the Regional Security System. “They have
been our partners and we want to maintain the partnership that exists, and so I
want to take the opportunity to request their cooperation in this exercise,” he
said.
The Review team will make its next stop in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to
meet with Prime Minister, Honourable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves who replaces RSS
outgoing Chairman, Dr. Anthony.
The RSS is headquartered in Barbados and can be accessed at
www.rss.org.bb
|
