Chang presses US officials on flow of illegal guns to Jamaica

The flow of illegal guns and ammunition from the United States (US) to Jamaica featured prominently in the discussions between National Security Minister Horace Chang and officials of the US State Department in Washington, D.C., last week.

Speaking at a reception hosted by Jamaica’s ambassador to the US, Audrey Marks, Chang said that the discussions come as Jamaica seeks to bolster its national security architecture and the US indicates its willingness to play a greater role in assisting the Caribbean with dealing with transnational crimes.

Creating havoc

“We are at a stage where we are building out our security architecture to be able to deal effectively with transnational crimes that are creating havoc with in our communities in Jamaica and exercise greater dominion and control over our territorial waters,” the national security minister emphasised.

He said that the US is taking a renewed interest in the region and is using Jamaica as its senior partner in the English-speaking Caribbean. He said that Jamaica’s strategic position in the region was also a factor.

“We wanted to ensure that the Caribbean basin was a safe region, and the US was taking a renewed interest so that we can build on our long-standing partnership in the region to ensure that we achieve our objectives, which would be mutually beneficial,” he said.