Jamaica, T&T press US to help stop flow of illegal guns Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said CARICOM is pressing the US to assist the region in cracking down on illegal gun shipments into the Caribbean.

Speaking with media at the Diplomatic Centre in Port of Spain during Holness’ visit to Trinidad and Tobago for the country’s 60th independence anniversary celebrations, Holness said that Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will be working together to address the flow of illegal weapons into both countries by collaborating and sharing information.

we had to impress upon the United States as CARICOM, that you cannot turn a blind eye to us

“Weapons are an enabler of violence, how they get into our countries and the people who are financing and sending them, there’s incredible commonality. Along the lines of sharing information, we will be collaborating on that…politically we need to amplify our voices…we don’t make guns and ammunition but they’re available so widely in our society.”

Dr Rowley said CARICOM members have made a united front in pressing the US government to step up measures to detect the movement of illegal gun shipments bound for the Caribbean.

“The United States has made a statement about focusing on the flow of arms and ammunition in the Caribbean. That didn’t come about by accident. We all have been pressing our point to the US as a supplier.”

“It is turning out that the biggest challenge is national security in Jamaica which we are also facing here…a huge national security challenge via a flow of arms and ammunition…and that is something which we had to impress upon the United States as CARICOM, that you cannot turn a blind eye to us, where every CARICOM country is in this predicament.”

“It’s something that we’re cooperating on and today we signed on to that…and we had some discussions for further closer cooperation in information sharing on this particular matter of the external forces that affects small arms and assault weapons coming from the Unites States.”

Holness added that there is a concern regarding the movement of illegal weapons through legal ports of entry and the implications of corruption.

“The importation of weapons [into Jamaica] comes in both via legal ports and illegal methods. The ones we’re really concerned about are the ones coming through our legal ports…If it’s coming through your ports it speaks to a high level of possible corruption in the port system and the customs system.”

Holness said the Jamaican government is addressing this challenge via a multipronged strategy and regarding entry via illegal ports of entry, they have also stepped up patrols.

He said there is also the problem of organised or enterprise crime, whose agents infiltrate state organisations and corrupt institutions in order to facilitate illegal trade.

He added that like Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica also is working on implementing measures to address domestic crime via a multidimensional strategy.

Dr Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica will be sharing information and working together to combat these issues.

Holness said overall, the instability created by global supply issues and the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that a stronger CARICOM is needed if the region is to move forward.

“What we’ve seen coming out of the [9th] Summit of the Americas is that…In a world of uncertainty where there can be an exogenous shock…we will need each other more than ever and so it’s important that there’s a strong relationship, government to government, regionally, to be able to withstand shocks.

“We need to be stronger regionally…we need to secure our food supply, our energy supply. Equally, we need to secure the labour that we need and….the financing that we need. Once we realise that we need to come together and work as a region so that we can become resilient to sustain these external shocks, we’ll have a clearer path toward the prosperity of our people.”

Both leaders also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to resolve a trade dispute and engaged in bilateral talks on various matters of mutual interest including national security, sport and tourism.

Holness will be in the country to observe independence day celebrations on August 31 and is due to depart on September 1.

NewsAmericasNow.com