Dominica conducting review of security following passage of Hurricane Maria

ROSEAU, Dominica, Dec 22, CMC – The Dominica government says a review will be held to determine what went wrong with security on the island following the passage of Hurricane Maria in September that killed at least 28 people and left millions of dollars in damage.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said he will also seek to sign an agreement with Jamaican authorities “soon” to allow members of that country’s defence force to assist in the development of the local law enforcement agencies.
“And then also, critically, we are going to have some kind of review as to what went wrong on September 19. Why wasn’t there sufficient coverage by the police on September 19?
‘We can know what went wrong if anything and what needs to be done to avoid….that happening in the future. So there will be different aspects of the review of the police force…,” Skerrit said in a live interview Friday on the state-owned DBS radio.
Last month, the government said it is undertaking a review of the island’s police service with the intention of assessing the functional services and effectiveness of the law enforcement agency.
National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore said that the review would also allow for recommendations for the improvement and strengthening of the Dominica Police Force.
“This review is intended to carefully assess the current functional capabilities of the police force and to determine the way forward,” Blackmoore said.
Skerrit told radio listeners that he could not give a commitment that his administration would implement all the recommendations likely to come from the review that is being undertaken by a team led by Colonel Jaimie Ogilvie of the Jamaica Defence Force.
“Once they are practical, I can’t give a commitment ….because I have not seen them. I haven’t seen all of them, the one or two I have seen we are starting to work on and the Minister will give effect to…after Christmas.
“But the idea is to ensure that we can provide what needs to be provided to address the situation,” Skerrit said.
He acknowledged receiving correspondence from the Dominica Business Forum regarding the security issue here following the hurricane saying “we are more than willing to receive and all suggestions.
“Obviously as I said this will have to be reviewed, this has to be analysed to see the practicality of some of them. Where some of them are practical, we will certainly implement them,” he said indicating that the review of the police force was being done “way in advance of any recommendation coming from anybody else”.
Blackmoore said last month hat the review will also examine capacity building and capability development, recommendations and associated costs, and an implementation road map.
“This review is intended to [be] transparent, wide-ranging, thorough, and far-reaching,” he said, adding that the team will consult with various stakeholders before submitting a report by the end of January 2018.