IMMIGRATION FRONT AND CENTRE

The following statement was issued by Leader of the PLP Philip Davis in answer to Marvin Dames, the Minister of National Security who tried to explain away the fact that an illegal migrant sloop was able to make it to within three quarters of a mile from the Royal Bahamas Defence Base in Nassau without being detected:

Statement by The Progressive Liberal Party

From the Office of the Leader of the PLP

Marvin Dames Comment’s in Today’s Guardian On Sloop Found At Adelaide

14 November 2017

For Immediate Release

The excuse given by Marvin Dames, the Minister of National Security, for his government’s failure to spot a sailing sloop with suspected illegal migrants abroad within a two mile range of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force base is unacceptable. In this instance, our party does not ask him to guard the whole Bahamas, but to simply guard the shoreline close to the Defence Force base. The forces under his command could not even do that.

The landing of an illegal sloop on the shoreline of Adelaide Village on Saturday, 11 November was a significant security breach just three-quarters of a mile from the country’s National Defence Force Base. What other implications does this have on the vulnerability of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and to our country to potential threats?

The Minister for National Security must accept full responsibility for these failures. The Minister of National Security is obligated to give a full account as to what personnel or what established security protocols failed which resulted in allowing undocumented illegals to go undetected right on the doorstep of the Defence Force.

This was an unacceptable security failure that requires an immediate investigation so we know why it happened and what we can do to avoid it from happening again.

The PLP stands ready to assist. The FNM must get to work and stop deflecting attention by giving poor excuses, engaging in victor’s justice by locking up their opponents, contracting the economy by firing suspected PLPs and failing to fix Grand Bahama.

End