BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Ministry of National Security has publicly shared its National Security Strategy (NSS) which provides a comprehensive plan for an “all-government approach” to further ensure a safe and secure environment for citizens, residents and visitors.
The NSS’s objective is to clearly determine any threats that impact, or could impact, the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, inform the citizenry, and provide for and take actions necessary to ensure the safety, security and stability of the nation and its interests.
The document is the result of a detailed and extensive study undertaken by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis; consultations with all relevant stakeholders to include a very wide cross-section of the public.
The Government presents the strategy for dealing with the Federation’s threat realities and outlines a Threat Assessment, Approach, Tier Rating System, Responsibilities and their Allocations, Tangential or Cross-cutting Issues and Closing Statements.
Through this strategy, all government Agencies, Ministries and Departments are expected to review their structure and operations to ensure that the security of the nation receives priority attention as required.
In 2015, at the start of the first term of Office of the Team Unity Government, the administration was determined to address the escalating crime trends that had been plaguing the country. In response, several steps were taken to address the situation.
According to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Osmond Petty, M.B.E., this led to the development, government approval and subsequent implementation of a Strategic Six Point Plan which was initiated by the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.
“The positives of the Six-Point Plan Strategy had been noted, but it was not representative of a comprehensive Policy to address the security challenges confronting the nation,” said Petty. “There was, therefore, a need to provide a more holistic approach to confronting these challenges, as is the accepted practice regionally and internationally.”
As a result, a Proposed National Security Architecture Framework (NSSFC) was prepared by National Security Advisor, Major General (ret.) Stewart Saunders. It recommended, among other things, the development and approval of a National Security Strategy.
To complete the groundwork for this task, a National Security Strategy Formulation Committee, chaired by Dwyer Astaphan, former government minister and lawyer, was established.
The committee comprised a wide cross-section of representatives from various sectors of society. Several additional key individuals were also co-opted by the committee to assist.
In their deliberations, the NSSFC engaged Civil Service principals, Security Forces heads and agencies impacting national security plus other organizations, bodies or individuals that were deemed relevant to the matter at hand.
These interactions took the form of meetings, focus-group discussions, as well as Town Hall meetings. The NSSFC was mindful that security challenges to the nation exist in a dynamic environment and there are processes constantly in motion, based upon current Government Policies, to address pressing issues. In this regard, there would have been programmes already implemented, or being implemented, that were geared to improve the current status of our National Security Architecture.
After the information was gathered by the committee, Major General (ret.) Saunders, in collaboration with Petty, took the recommendations from the NSSFC. It also used other Ministry documents and data to fashion the National Security Strategy, which was presented to Cabinet.
The document received approval from Cabinet late last year. The strategy will strengthen Government efforts to continue to reduce criminal activity in the Federation and will complement the results of initiatives already in place, which have driven crime on a downward trend during the last five years.
According to the vision statement in the NSS, St. Kitts and Nevis is a nation that puts God and Country Above Self, where all exist in a peaceful, safe, secure and stable environment; a place where citizens, residents and visitors can live, study, work, and do business; a Federation that values its people, system of governance and consistently seeks improvements for all, by providing opportunities that cater for individual and collective well-being through economic growth, prosperity, good health and the respect for law and order; a small island state in which all sectors of the nation – government agencies and private sector, at individual and organizational levels – work together to ensure all threats to its security are minimized or totally removed.
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