PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Caribbean countries involved in the 2007 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup have been told there can be no margin for error in the preparations for the competition next year.
Barbados Deputy Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, Wednesday told a meeting of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Aviation Ministers that advanced securities measures were being put in place to ensure the “survivability” of the region.
She said that with increased travel throughout the region there would be increased levels of risk and that the Caribbean must be protected.
“We have set up a regional intelligence framework, we have also agreed to set up a Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre which would drive the activities of the law enforcement operatives largely because the regional intelligence fusion will not only be states of the Caribbean but indeed countries from as far as Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, right back through to the other cricket world cup countries.”
Mottley said that the centre would be based in Port of Spain.
“We have signed in the region, a regional security assistance treaty which will see us for the first time, since independence, putting together law enforcement officials as well as military personnel, into a regional team which will act in a supportive way to individual countries who have the responsibility of hosting particular games,” she said.
Mottley said that “this regional law enforcement team will move from country to country throughout the region”.
She said that the Caribbean would be treated as one domestic space and CARICOM travellers and airport staff would not be inconvenienced as a result.
“Due to the advanced passenger information systems we will be able to allow person to walk without stamping their passports and there will be minimum random checks at the customs levels simply because of the volume of persons.”
Caribbean countries expect about 50,000 persons would be travelling throughout the region during the March 13 to April 28 Cricket World Cup matches and have also announced a series of measures to accommodate their movement.
These include visa requirements, free movement of persons within the nine territories hosting the matches and various security measures with the assistance of INTERPOL.
Earlier this month, it was announced that a number of Caribbean airlines had been designated as the official carrier for the visitors expected in the region for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
LIAT, Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun, BWIA West Indies Airlines and Air Jamaica had submitted a joint bid to handle the massive load of cricket fans.