ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. Managing Director & CEO, Chris Dehring, has applauded the security and immigration initiatives agreed to by the Prime Ministers of CARICOM for next year’s…
ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. Managing Director & CEO, Chris Dehring, has applauded the security and immigration initiatives agreed to by the Prime Ministers of CARICOM for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup. This includes a decision to officially designate the nine Host Venues plus Dominica as “one domestic space” from January to May 2007, eliminating the need for persons to be processed through immigrations and customs during the period.
Speaking from the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in St. Kitts & Nevis on Thursday where he had been meeting with the Heads, Dehring said: “We are very pleased by the steps agreed to by the leaders of CARICOM to ensure the safe and fluid passage of fans throughout the Caribbean during tournament time. As someone who travels the Caribbean often, the thought of being able to simply get off the plane, go through the airport and not wait in an immigration line for processing is mind-blowing. This is a historic day for the region.”
“It speaks volumes about the importance which our leaders place on the Cricket World Cup and the fact that they recognise the need to extend tournament uniformity to areas such as security and immigration. It also demonstrates the catalytic effect which hosting this Event has on structures and institutions which had probably needed revamping for some time.”
CARICOM officials revealed their agreement to allow “the free movement of people” among the ten countries for the first five months of next year. The travelling public will not be required to have their passports “stamped” to clear Customs and Immigration once you are coming from any of the ten countries in the single domestic space. For international visitors, a similar situation would apply, after being processed in the country in which they first arrive in the region. However, all fans would still be advised to carry their passports for identification purposes.
“This is something we have been working towards as we know it will definitely ease the flow of people going to matches around the Caribbean and remove a major obstacle. Everyone should be able to move around with less hassle,” added Dehring. “Of course it is a courageous step because if it works well for the event, Caribbean people may well decide that is how they want it to be forever more.”
There will also be a single CARICOM visa which non-Caribbean fans can use for all ten countries instead of the usual practice of acquiring individual visas for each of these Caribbean countries as necessary.
In addition to these two initiatives aimed at dealing with the regional and international fans who will be travelling during the Event, CARICOM announced a US$13 million regional security plan and the formation of a 400-strong regional security force to augment the national security resources of the nine host venues. It was also announced that the Caribbean will receive assistance from the American, British and French governments in the deployment of their regional plan as well as from Interpol who will establish a regional presence from January.
“The region will be more secure than ever before with the united effort of regional and international intelligence agencies. This is unprecedented and fans who attend this Event will be able to enjoy themselves in a safe and peaceful environment,” said the ICC CWC 2007 Managing Director.
Dehring, who also presented his regular update on CWC 2007 to the Heads of Government, thanked CARICOM for their dedication to ensuring the tournament is hosted under the best conditions possible.
“A lot of hard work has been invested by CARICOM and by the countries involved. In particular, we must recognise the contribution and leadership in this matter of Prime Minister Manning of Trinidad & Tobago who is Chairman of the Crime & Security Committee. Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley and Minister of National Security from Jamaica Peter Phillips must also be specially recognised for an impressive amount of work in designing this new and exciting security architecture for the region,” he said.
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