PM Discusses Strengthening National Security with US Navy Secretary

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, met with Secretary of the United States (US) Navy, Hon. Carlos Del Toro, this week, where they discussed cooperation to strengthen Jamaica’s border security.

The Prime Minister was on a four-day working visit to Washington DC from December 4 to 7, where he held talks with several high-level US officials.

The Prime Minister noted that the meeting was held against the background of “the significant progress the country has made with respect to our economic security and the equal priority we have placed on our national safety and security”.

“To this end, I continue to have high-level discussions with our international partners, particularly the US, in bolstering our national security apparatus.”

Prime Minister Holness noted that Jamaica’s maritime space, which is a critical zone and feature of the country’s national security, is 22 times the landmass, requiring significant patrolling capacity.

As such, he noted that the talks focused on how Jamaica and the US can co-operate as the island seeks to be proactive in securing its maritime borders.

Also discussed, he said, was Jamaica’s comprehensive security plan, Plan Secure Jamaica, and opportunities for strategic reciprocal partnership with the US that will advance the realisation of several national security objectives.

Prime Minister Holness said that having identified guns from the US as a major player in Jamaica’s crime problem, “we continue to advocate for greater effort on the part of the US in launching an assault on guns, similar to that on drugs, as we seek to ensure the safety and security of our people and arrest the erosion of our image as a place of sun, sea, sand and no problem”.

The Prime Minister observed that of equal importance is Jamaica’s capacity to respond to humanitarian crises, particularly as a country within a region that is prone to hurricanes.

In this regard, Mr. Holness said, “We are seeking to collaborate with the United States in building our internal capacity to respond to regional natural disasters such as we have seen in the past, especially in a context where our usual partners might be preoccupied with their own issues.”

The Prime Minister was accompanied by Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith and Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Audrey Marks.