BARBADOS YESTERDAY OWNED UP to its failure to contribute to a CARICOM security agency and sought over $1/4 million dollars to settle the obligation.
Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite sought the money from the Consolidated Fund via a $5.5 million resolution, part of which was $658 253 to settle outstanding contributions to the Trinidad and Tobago-based CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS).
Brathwaite, in the pre-lunch session of the House of Assembly, lamented the fact that Government still owed part of its annual subscription to IMPACS and that the only fully-paid-up member country was Trinidad and Tobago.
He said others had either partly paid or had not paid at all, which was causing staff at IMPACS’ sub-agencies not to receive their salaries on time.
Brathwaite said IMPACS was officially established in 2006 in preparation for Cricket World Cup 2007 and one of its sub-agencies in Barbados, the Joint Regional Communication Centre (JRCC), was responsible for vetting and updating lists of travellers to the region and having advanced files on persons of interest.
He said there could therefore be no doubt about IMPACS’ importance to the region.
However, its reputation had suffered as a result of certain allegations against the former executive director, while it had become financially weak due to the non-subscribing of member countries, he told parliamentarians.
He added that IMPACS had been rapidly set up without the necessary framework and procedures, causing it to be bedevilled by irregularities.
It had also never had an audited financial statement in its five years of existence, said the Attorney General.
“Certainly post-2010, it has had tremendous difficulties as an agency being able to receive all of the subscriptions from various member states . . . .
“I want to say up front to the members of the JRCC, if it’s at all possible for me to apologize in the forum, I do want to apologize for the fact that as a result of the non-receipt of subscriptions that many individuals both in Trinidad and Barbados did not receive the payment of their salaries on time,” he remarked.
Describing it as a tremendous challenge for the agency to meet its commitments, he said Barbados had been unable to pay all of its subscription because of some budgeting issues in the Office of the Attorney General.
“The Office of the AG and the head of the Council of Ministers have been trying to persuade more of our regional colleagues to honour their payments. I do recognize that many countries in the region are challenged financially,” he added.
He said, however, if IMPACS was unable to fulfill its mandate, the Caribbean’s reputation as a region of peace would be in danger.
Cut out duplication
The Attorney General also pointed out that Barbados subscribed to the Regional Security System, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System, among other agencies, so it probably needed to re-examine each entity and cut out any area of duplication.
In reply to harsh criticism from the opposition, Brathwaite said there were efforts to encourage other countries to pay their dues but there was need for a functioning IMPACS with the financial wherewithal to meet its requirements.
He said there was a proposal contemplating a levy of $5 on each airline ticket issued in the region and, according to a survey done a few years ago, regional travellers and other visitors did not mind paying a security charge. But this, he added, did not go down well in some tourism circles.
“According to the analysis that was done, it would have enabled IMPACS on a yearly basis to sustain itself and there would also have been a surplus amount to which would have been used to market the region as a destination holistically. There’s some regret that that has not taken traction,” said Brathwaite.
Noting that the region should seek an alternative if it could no longer sustain IMPACS, he stressed that Barbados was not the main reason why the IMPACS staff had not been paid for several months. (RJ)
