The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe said the Minnis administration produced a report into the security of Government House that was never shared with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force for its review and input.

Three days after an RBDF marine was killed at Government House in 2019, a committee was established to investigate whether there were any security breaches or oversights and to give feedback on what improvements could be made to security at Government House.

The committee’s report was completed by February 2020, but was never released to the public.

“I have seen the report,” Mr Munroe said yesterday. “When I came to office I discovered that it had not been provided to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and in my first meeting with the commodore I discovered that and I directed that it be provided to him. I will be interested in hearing the comments from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the Royal Bahamas Police Force on the content of that report and then we can speak about it generally and publicly.

“I can tell you that it speaks about upgrades in CCTV coverage at Government House and having been at Government House on National Heroes Day holiday, a lot of that is being built into the current renovation. It also spoke to increasing the barriers at Government House but that will be something that will have to be determined in discussions with the Governor General’s Office. It’s an historic house and they may not wish to have the wall go up by six feet, they might not wish to have intrusive fencing, certainly on Shirley Street side, but that is a matter that after discussion with the Defence Force, the police force and the office at Government House we will make a determination.”

Mr Munroe also said the RBDF has a manpower problem. “I found an agency that had its mission multiplied, but its manpower and resources weren’t properly addressed,” he said. “The prime minister in writing to me has tasked me to increase their institutional capacity which to me will mean increasing their manpower and resources.

“I came to a ministry that has only an acting permanent secretary, Cheryl Darville, who is very committed to what she is doing, but currently she does not have the support of an undersecretary and I have found and made the determination having seen a review that the ministry’s structures are not correctly populated to do the jobs that the ministry is tasked to do.”