The Prime Minister believes that America must ensure the preparedness of The Bahamas through counter-terrorism measures.
“The Bahamas begins 50 miles off the coast of Florida…when America is designing homeland security for Florida it must necessarily take into consideration the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” Mr. Christie said Monday night.
Speaking before a panel of journalists at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel downtown, Mr. Christie expounded on the impact of American anti-terrorism efforts.
“Whenever you hear America moving through the various codes to code orange then that automatically results in The Bahamas taking certain action in pursuance of what is necessary to protect interests here in The Bahamas be they cruise ships or airlines,” Mr. Christie said.
The thought that someone could use The Bahamas to attack either America or American interests in The Bahamas, whether it is an asset, tourist or cruise ship is horrific, he said.
Mr. Christie also said that the governments of America, The Bahamas and those of the Caribbean must remain at a very high state of vigilance and level of cooperation to “thwart any such effort on the part of terrorists.”
He said that the regional countries will continue to work together with the United States.
“Our relationship only gets stronger because of the interdependent state that terrorism has left us in; where one must take care of the other,” Mr. Christie said.
He added that the strength of joint programmes and efforts can only be as strong as the weakest link in the American-Caribbean chain.
“That in itself means that it is a very necessary function for America to concern itself with the preparedness of The Bahamas and other countries,” Mr. Christie said.
Julian Reid, The Bahama Journal
