BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH the Federation and the region continuing to struggle with the issue of guns being smuggled into the islands, Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris said international partners, particularly those who manufacture these devices, have to be more invested in finding a workable solution.
Yesterday (Mar. 17), at the Council of Ministers of the Regional Security System (RSS) meeting held at the St. Kitts Marriott, Dr. Harris, Chairman of that body, highlighted these and other issues which are impacting the region.
“The security threats which we face are many. And they include, of course, the increased level of criminality in our region that results from the use of small arms. This has been a long important concern and one which I believe that our international partners and stakeholders must do more to assist us. For too long we have been the victim of weapons which we did not create, which we did not produce and for which we made no profits.
“I believe that the international community, the producers of these weapons, have to do a lot more than they have been permitted to do in the past if they are going to be genuine partners in the future. We have the challenge of drug trafficking and human trafficking and these are issues that are requiring new skills, new competencies in law enforcement and new resources.”
Director of the US Embassy’s Office of International Narcotics Law Enforcement Affairs and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Barbados Drew Blackeney, in response to PM Harris’ comments, expressed that while there is some work being done by the United States in this regard, there is room for improvement.
“…most of these guns come from the United States; we recognize that. We certainly try to exercise control over exports. Obviously this is done illegally. So we do have a Customs and Border Protection Office here, we have a representative from our agency for alcohol tobacco and firearms… and we do collaborate on things like restoring filed off serial numbers and so forth.
“But obviously lots more needs to be done on that front. Obviously these firearms are very small, they’re easily shipped in barrels as frequently occurs and we do provide training to port and customs officials and we’ll continue to do that. But it’s a tremendous challenge as we all know.”
Last year in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force was successful in removing 30-plus firearms from the streets and thus far for the year, six have been removed.
Notwithstanding, most of the murders committed over the years were done with the use of firearms.
