Minister of National Security in the Prime Minister's Ministry, Senator Einstein Louison has underscored the importance of peace and stability in small island States such as Grenada which depend heavily on tourism as their main source of foreign income.

Delivering the key note address at the opening ceremony of a two-week national training programme on counter terrorism, Sen. Louison said that without peace, stability and security "we would fail to improve the quality of life for residents and indeed to attract any visitors to our shores."

He told the participants that through the security measures that were put in place for the Grenada-leg of the 2007 ICC World Cup a strong message was sent to the international community that Grenada is a peaceful and beautiful place to visit, do business and reside.

"This message that we sent to the world is indeed important for Grenada and the region," he said."Our smallness in size, and dependence on tourism and business make us extremely vulnerable to the negative publicity that comes with international criminal activities," he added.

Sen. Louison stated that the Grenada government is determined to keep terrorism and international crimes away from the country."We must ensure that our people are safe and that they feel safe," he quipped.

 

Commissioner James

The training programme is part of the Commonwealth Project on Capacity Building in Combating Terrorism. The opening ceremony was also addressed by Commissioner of Police, Mr. Winston James who spoke on the importance of the training programme for Grenada's development.

The Chief Cop lauded the continued assistance the police force was receiving from the Commonwealth Secretariat."This anti-terrorism training course which is sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat is vital to Grenada's capacity building process in the fight against terrorism," he said.

Commissioner James pointed out that Grenada like many other countries in the region is continuing to implement appropriate measures to strengthen its capacity to effectively prevent and combat terrorism and its associated crimes which include money laundering.

He acknowledged that terrorism is the biggest security threat presently facing the world."We in Grenada are expected to play an integral part in the fight against terrorism, and must be seen to be actively involved in capacity building," he told participants.

Apart from police officers, the training programme is being attended by Customs officers, Airport security officers, and members of the Ministry of Legal Affairs. Commissioner James noted that the participants were specially selected and urged them to see it as an honour to show great interest in the training so that it can be a success. He also encouraged them to be mindful of the negative effects terrorism could have on the local economy.

"You must realise that we depend greatly on tourism and if anything should happen to one of the cruise ships coming to Grenada or the Caribbean, it can affect the economy of all the countries", he said."I urge all to take this training seriously and broaden your scope of knowledge to protect Grenada," he added.

Legal Advisor in the Legal and Constitutional Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, David Fraser gave an outline of how the workshop was born. Fraser said that in October 2001 Commonwealth Heads of Government issued a statement condemning terrorism, and called upon all Commonwealth countries to implement United Nations Security Resolution 1373.

That resolution calls on all countries to take comprehensive measures to combat and deter terrorism. In January, the first training workshop was held in Grenada, and was conducted by Inspectors Vanney Curwen of the Prosecution Department and Earl Dunbar of the Criminal Investigation Department, and Sergeant Zephrine Charles.

The same three-member team from RGPF will again conduct the second training programme with background support from the Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The workshop will cover topics such as, What is terrorism; Intelligence gathering and analysis; and Handling hostage situations.