The Caricom Secretariat says Caribbean countries hosting the Cricket World Cup (CWC) will get security assistance from a number of states and the region already has about 400 “roving” security officials for the matches.
A press release from Caricom said to date South Africa has committed to making 70 security experts available to the region to help to strengthen security. The South African team will be incorporated into the armed forces and, to this extent; amendments to some existing legislation will have to be introduced in some parliaments. Barbados Attorney General Dale Marshall made this announcement last Thursday after a tour of that country’s Grantley Adams International Airport to observe operations at the facility on the day that the Single Domestic Space started. Marshall said the legislation for the deployment of non-national security personnel would be “sunset in nature” meaning that they would cease to exist on the completion of the tournament. He said the region “had already begun to reap dividends from the regional approach to law enforcement.” The intelligence arrangements headed by Commander of Regional Forces, Colonel Antony Anderson, have already been paying off for the Region and the intelligence networks have allowed them to take pre-emptive action where there would have been very serious threats to the safety of Caribbean people.
Marshall said the region has about 400 trained military and police personnel which constituted a roving team across the region to be deployed for the CWC 2007. These officers will be moving from game to game to ensure that there are no breaches of security. “I think it is fair to say that we have put a lot of effort in place regionally to ensure that the Caribbean will be as safe as is humanly possible,” he said. This team will be put into action as required. Marshall also said that Barbados has made a significant investment in equipment and training.
Anderson said that in every host country the authorities would have the necessary manpower at hand to ensure the public’s safety. At the same time, everyone’s involvement in the Single Domestic Space was critical to maintaining law and order during the games. “People out there see things, hear things and know things long before the authorities are aware. It is the collection of all of that information that can be refined into intelligence that will later drive operations to secure the space,” Anderson said.
The release also said details about the Caricom special visa and the Single Domestic Space are available at www.caricomvisa.com or www.caricomimpacs.org.
