Minister Hermangild Francis.
As part of efforts to reform policing on Saint Lucia, the new government has plans to establish a border patrol agency, something that National Security Minister Hermangild Francis said is desperately needed.
Prime Minister Allen Chastanet had suggested that the Customs and Excise Department be converted into a Border Control Unit that will work in tandem with the Immigration Department and the Marine Unit.
Francis said the ultimate plan is to separate this unit from the police.
“Because at the end of the day police are going to get involved in some unsavory incidents and at the end of the day the Marine Unit will be left to suffer. So the best thing to do is take them out,” the minister explained.
He said if the Marine Unit did not fall under the Police Force, they would have still been receiving assistance from the United States (US) government.
Francis, a former deputy police commissioner, said he had always advocated for the Marine Unit to be a stand along entity and serve as a coast guard for Saint Lucia.
“Barbados has a coast guard and Barbados is just 166 square miles and yet they have a coast guard. Antigua has a coast guard and I am saying Saint Lucia, the best thing for me, is to have a coast guard.”
However, Francis said two other important factors that must be looked at is the cost and feasibility.
Meanwhile, the Golden Hope Hospital has been earmarked as the site for the new Police Headquarters.
But Francis has said that building a new Police Headquarters will take some time, explaining also that the US funded Marine Unit building is already expensive as it stands.
“In the end, we would want everything in one space but in the immediate future I don’t see that happening, “he said.
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