National Security Strategy to go to Parliament Next Month
December 13, 2005The Full Story
The much-awaited National Security Strategy will be tabled as a Ministry Paper in Parliament in January 2006. Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman, informed at a post Cabinet press meeting at Jamaica House yesterday (Dec 12), that Cabinet had approved the tabling of the document, which was geared towards the total security of the nation.
“This security strategy is not just about crime, it is about environmental security, social security, social stability, economic security as well as security in the traditional sense,” Minister Whiteman indicated.
Continuing, the Information Minister explained that the strategy document would serve to “communicate anew the resolve of the government to accord the priority to security that is being demanded by all strata of law abiding Jamaicans at home and abroad”.
He also noted that the tabling of the document was not a “knee-jerk” response but has been the result of key stakeholder participation from private and public entities, and consultations with the opposition.
The document will outline the mechanisms for a more coordinated and integrated approach among all the various departments and agencies with a security remit.
Senator Whiteman further informed that the strategy centred on issues that would either facilitate or prevent the country from achieving its social and economic goals.
These issues, he noted, included threats to Jamaica in the form of terrorism, military and para-military concerns, disasters and unsustainable loss of natural resources.
Additionally, the Information Minister informed that in keeping with the high priority being given to the strategy document, a National Security Strategy Implementation Team would be put together to operate from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). The team is to be named early next year.