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21st January 2010
Marine Unit Gets American Assistance
M.G.George

The rebuilding of two piers and a new breakwater for the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force by the Government of the United States of America has been hailed as a big step towards the Force’s ability to intercept drug traffickers on the island’s coastal waters.
Home Affairs Minister Guy Mayers yesterday praised the move by the Americans noting the critical importance of having a pier at the Marine Unit’s outposts in Castries and Vieux Fort through which marine police could launch forth their offensives against drug traffickers.
The Marine Unit is seriously hampered by a lack of boats and personnel in their fight at combating drug traffickers at sea, something the Government has recognized and seeks to remedy, according to Minister Mayers.
Speaking to reporters after the sod turning ceremony at the Marine Unit’s base in Castries yesterday, Minister Mayers noted that the Unit will be receiving two boats by either June or July this year.
The Police Force it seems will be having some of its needs met by government. The Minister made it clear that in the fight against crime government is right there beside the members of the Force however, some of the initiatives the Force wants implemented were not allocated for in the budget.
 
 

“There have been a number of new initiatives requested by the police as we step up our fight against crime. Some of those were presented before and were not able to be financed in previous years. They are coming up again. We (government) are making a concerted effort to give those resources to the police,” Minister Mayers said.
“As we have made the security of the country the number one priority, the number one focus we would have to redirect resources from other areas to the police. We may not be able to give them everything they need but we need to give them as close to what they need as possible,” Minister Mayers said.
He noted that the police have asked for several items like vehicles, computers, additional manpower, etc.
The construction of the piers and breakwater will be at a cost of USD$1,331,573. The contract has been awarded to Construction and Industrial Equipment Ltd, a Saint Lucian company and is expected to be completed by October 2010.
The pier in Castries has been severely damaged and is out of use while the one in Vieux Fort while in limited use is badly damaged. The project is funded by the United States Government through the United States Southern Command.

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