THE EDITOR: It appears that our Prime Minister has a bee in his bonnet about our Marine Police Unit.
In his pronouncement on the introduction of visa requirements for Venezuelan nationals, he asserted that when his government came to power ‘there were no coast guard boats’. This is not the first time that he has made this assertion, which is simply not true. His Personal Attaché also repeated this untruth in recounting government’s achievements since its election!
In the first place, we do not have a Coast Guard,. Rather we have a Marine Police Unit (MPU) of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force. This is an important distinction, as a Coast Guard is treated differently, in terms of the kind of assistance that can be provided by the US, for instance, once the IMPACS matter has been resolved!
The MPU is largely self-sufficient in the maintenance of its fleet of five boats of various sizes, in bases at Castries and Vieux Fort, under very challenging financial circumstances.
This assertion is a disservice to the hard-working members of the MPU, whose exposure to grievous bodily harm is the highest in the RSLPF.
It also flies in the face of Prime Ministerial statements on the need to ‘Secure our borders’!
Come off it Mr. Prime Minister, lest being economical with the truth becomes part of the local political culture. Or, is this your way of preparing us for the privatization of the Marine Police Unit? (SHIPSHAPE)