The Tribune

By RUPERT MISSICK Jr

THE world community must do more to fight against the trafficking of illegal firearms, Prime Minister Perry Christie told the UN General Assembly this weekend.

Mr Christie encouraged the nations that have not signed the Arms Trade Treaty to do so and those countries that produce the guns to become more proactive in controlling the export of guns.

“We implore them to step up the policing of their own borders against arms traffickers,” he said.

The continuing influx of guns, and the increase in gun-related criminality, the prime minister said, is not only in The Bahamas but throughout the region.

“We therefore call for more robust surveillance and reconnaissance measures to be instituted. We already have the experience of the joint anti-drug operational activities with the United States of America. However, more resources ought to be employed in a region-wide effort to fight crime,” Mr Christie said.

In particular, the Prime Minister said that there needs to be a massive increase in joint tactical operations so that more air and maritime assets can be consistently deployed so that the thousands of square miles that comprise the territorial waters of Caribbean states can be more effectively patrolled.

“We, in The Bahamas, stand ready to play our part in these joint efforts, without which the war on arms-trafficking, human smuggling and the transshipment of illicit drugs will never produce the victory we all strive for,” Mr Christie said.