The United States Embassy through the office of the Defence Attache and other stakeholders on maritime yesterday held a dialogue conference with the aim of discussing issues of maritime security which is considered a land mark in the entire security arrangement in the country.
The conference is intended to facilitate Ministerial level interagency coordination to improve maritime security.
Rear Admiral Kenneth Norton of the U.S Naval Forces Africa said that this is not the first time that such a conference is being organized and that having gone through other African countries he is very impressed with the work done by the Joint Maritime Committee (JMC) in Sierra Leone.
The JMC he noted is advanced in terms of gaining inner access to data of mineral resources in the country and these resources needs to be cared for and not exploited as two thirds of animal protein comes from the water.
The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Dr. Soccoh Kabia said that the conference will give them the opportunity to exchange ideas on maritime issues as they want to ensure that they are in the same page on matters of maritime security.
The Minister added that they will also want to determine the resources from the marine resources and also this conference will help them to develop an action plan that they will work with.
Dr. Kabia said that during the dialogue some of the issues that they looked into are maritime security, piracy, drug trafficking, poaching and human trafficking at sea and the effects these have on not only the victims but the country as a whole.
As JMC is one of the focal points of the conference the Secretary General of the Committee John Rogers said that weak security in our maritime environment leads to loss of much needed revenue generated for implementation of government development agendas.
As a coordinating institution responsible got the overall coordination of the security sector in the country, they have been making effort towards practical and workable approaches by bringing all players whose efforts will bring security in the country especially in the maritime sector.
Earlier on the Ambassador of the USA Michael Owen encouraged the stakeholders to make the most of “this opportunity to coordinate their efforts. When the citizens can freely navigate and harvest the seas, and when criminals are prevented from depleting the resources that are (their) rightful heritage as Sierra Leoneans.”
By Betty Milton
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