Grenada is placing priority on crime prevention, border detection and border control as part of its plan for boosting the tourism product. Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Tillman Thomas highlighted the issue during discussions with the outgoing United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Mary Ourisman during a farewell visit to Grenada on Tuesday. Foreign and Tourism Minister, Peter David, who also attend the meeting, echoed the Prime Minister’s position, stressing that the promotion of the island as a safe and crime free destination is critical to the success of the tourism sector. “We are blessed with a low crime rate, so border detection and border control are very important to us,” the Foreign Minister said. In response the US Ambassador and her party pointed to a US$6 million information gathering facility provided to regional governments as part of the security arrangements for Cricket World Cup in 2007. The system provided regional law enforcement with the ability to have prior knowledge of persons coming into the region for the games. “The legislation should be reviewed because of its sunset nature because this can be used to enhance border control. It was a good investment in the Caribbean,” the US official said. The meeting also discussed the e-trace initiative which gives Caribbean police forces the ability to trace the purchase of weapon used in criminal activity and find networks that illegally ship weapons into the Caribbean. Currently only the Bahamas and Jamaica have access to E-trace although access is also available to other countries. The officials noted that while significant training opportunities were available, there is a need for a review of the relevance of the training and the use of the information when persons returned to their home countries. “It is our responsibility to analyse the results of the training we receive to ensure there is a transfer of skills and information once people complete these programmes. There is also the need for an analysis of our cooperation to determine the levels of success and implementation and therefore the benefits to our country,” the Prime Minister said. Reprinted from Caribbean Net News caribbeannetnews.com