Fourteen members of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda (RPFAB) were deployed to St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) on Saturday to assist with security and humanitarian efforts.
The officers left Antigua on a Regional Security System (RSS) aircraft, a release from the police’s communications arm, STRATCOM, noted.
The Commissioner of Police, Atlee Rodney was on hand to wish the officers a safe journey and a successful mission. He also used the opportunity to express his profound gratitude to them for undertaking the mission, and encouraged them to continue to be ambassadors for Antigua and Barbuda in the performance of their duties.
The Antiguan contingent will join Assistant Commissioner of Police, Desmond Dinard, who travelled to SVG last Wednesday, where he will be the RSS Contingent Commander.
Members of the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) will also be joining the RSS contingent in SVG. The officers will be on the ground for at least three weeks, in the first instance, and will be tasked with assisting their regional counterparts with the maintenance of law and order and humanitarian efforts as volcanic activity continues in the Caribbean territory.
The deployment is in keeping with the mission of the RSS, and its commitment to the region in matters of national security, especially during or following the occurrence of a natural disaster.
St Vincent and the Grenadines is currently in the midst of an ongoing volcanic crisis that has left parts of the territory uninhabitable.