Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt revealed in the House of Assembly on Wednesday that the special team reviewing the Defence Force determined that reports of sexual harassment and questions of corruption had led to loss of public trust.
But DPM Pratt, who is also the Minister of National Security, refused to table a copy of the review, noting that it was a confidential document.
She, however, promised to provide a copy to Hubert Ingraham, leader of the Official Opposition, although she could not confirm to him exactly when.
Mrs. Pratt said the review team made 134 recommendations with the objective of “transforming the Royal Bahamas Defence Force into an effective, transparent and modern organization.”
She announced that the government has appointed an implementation committee that will be charged with guiding and supervising the changes to be brought about.
The committee, Mrs. Pratt said, is led by former attorney general, Paul Adderley; former COB President Dr. Keva Bethel; COB academic Jessica Minnis; and Retired Commodore Leon Smith.
The actual review of the Defence Force took place from September to December 2005 and was conducted by a five-member team headed by Major General Cameron Ross.
“The review team found tremendous depth of character amongst most of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers and marines,” Mrs. Pratt said.
“But it found the Defence Force deficient in organizational effectiveness and noted that strengthening was required in discipline.”
The committeeﾒs recommendations, she said, are geared at improving human capital, efficiency levels, and endowing the Defence Force with new capabilities.
“In pursuit of transformation, the review team recommended that greater and more intense attention be given to operational innovations, to performance measurements, to the role of women in the Defence Force, to an improved system of rewards and recognition, to the conditions of work, to the rules of engagement and the capacity of the Defence Force to respond quickly and effectively as conditions require, but particularly in times of emergency,” Mrs. Pratt said.
“Special mention was made of the Defence Force air wing. This came in for special attention because of the pivotal role that air transportation and air surveillance must play in the context of the Bahamas.”
She said it was recommended that this facility in the Defence Force be critically assessed with a view to effecting strengthening in manpower, equipment and operations.
The deputy prime minister said the review team was of the view that greater resources were needed and that more effective use could be made of the existing resources of the Defence Force.
It recommended that the Defence Force should cease the performance of static duties and the commando squadron should be disbanded and replaced by a rapid reaction squadron capable of providing relief and support within a 24-hour period of the occurrence of a disaster.
“Modernisation in the Defence Force should be supported by a revised Defence Force Act,” the deputy prime minister said.
“Such revision should have as its focus brining the Defence Forceﾒs mandate in line with its designated responsibilities, to granting the commander of the Defence Force more disciplinary authority and to delineating the boundary between the Defence Force and the Police.”
The deputy prime minister revealed also that the review team recommended that protocols should be put in place to prevent the types of incidents that were the subject of the Lorequin Commission of Inquiry year before last.
The inquiry investigated an incident more than a decade ago when drugs confiscated by Defence Force officers reportedly went missing.
“Considerable emphasis was placed on the recommendation to form a reserve force and it was recommended that a separate study should be conducted that would point to the means by which the reserve force would tap into expertise and knowledge and experience that exist in the civilian community,” Mrs. Pratt said.
“The government must, in the course of this transformation, give focused attention to removing the vestiges of Lorequin that continue to adversely affect the Defence Force.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
