|
Trinidad & Tobago's Chief of Defence Staff says Caribbean Defence Force equal to the task
Port of Spain August 19, 2006...Newly-appointed Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier-General Edmund
Dillon has expressed confidence that the Trinidad and Tobago Defence
Force and security forces in other Caribbean islands can ensure a safe
and secure environment for the peoples of the region.
Dillon gave the regional security entities the thumbs up when he
addressed a media briefing which preceded the official opening of the
ninth annual Caribbean Nations Security Conference (CANSEC 06) at the
Tobago Hilton on Wednesday. “Synchronising Regi-onal Priorities to
Enhance Effectiveness and Better Utilise Resources” was the central
theme of the conference which brought together senior security
personnel from countries throughout the region, including Antigua and
Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana,
Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines,
Suriname, Dominican Republic, and the United States of America.
The conference was jointly hosted by the TT Defence Force and the
United States Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM), and its focus was on
“Developing Measures of Effectiveness from a Regional Perspective”.
The TT Chief of Defence Staff noted that the central theme of this
year’s conference was even more relevant to the region at present as
many nations were busily engaged in putting security arrangements in
place for the staging of the Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean next
year, while at the same time confronting the challenges and other
issues as it relates to the overall “security environment” in the
Caribbean region.
Dillon said, coming out of the session, it was hoped there would
be “a distinct alignment of regional security initiatives” as well as
the fostering of increased co-operation among the region’s security
forces and their allies outside the region.
Deputy Commander of the US Southern Command, Major-General Glenn
Spears said the meeting allowed participants to have candid and frank
discussions on security threats, border security, and regional
co-operation.
He said the progress made in recent years would be assessed and potential areas for future work identified.
“These types of discussions increase the ability of our nations to
mutually protect our citizens by fostering co-operation among our
defence and security forces to address some of the most likely and most
challenging security threats”, he added.
Source: Newsday
|
