The future of the allocation of funds for the Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos is set to be decided this week after a special review of the anti-drug smuggling initiative.
Political, economic and public relations officer Greg Floyd at the US Embassy told The Tribune yesterday that a special team from Washington, DC, is expected to travel to the Bahamas later this week fo review OPBAT.
Following this review, the team will present US government officials with a report that will determine the future of the prograrmme.
“At this time it is not about the deduction of funds for OPBAT, but rather about the allocation, the distribution,” Mr Floyd said.
US Ambassador John Rood last Friday returned from a two-week trip from Washington where he met with senior government officials to discuss the US’ continuing commitment to narcotics interdiction and OPBAT.
On his return the ambassador announced that the talks had been “fruitful.”
Mr Floyd said yesterday that Ambassador Rood was able to come to a “general agreement” with US government officials regarding the funding of OPBAT.
He emphasised that there will be no reduction of the funds provided to the operation.
In the weeks leading up to the ambassador’s trip, concerns were raised that the US might withdraw its Army helicopters from the programme and significantly reduce its financial support.
However, the ambassador quickly moved to quell those fears by saying that there was no talk of removing the helicopters from OPBAT.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was also a topic of discussion during the Washington trip.
Although he could not yet disclose any details of the outcome of talks regarding the travel initiative, Mr Floyd said that the “news is good.”
The initiative, which requires all US citizens travelling to the Bahamas to have a valid passport, has caused great concern for the country’s tourism industry.
It was estimated that the Caribbean could lose billions of dollars in revenue if the deadline for the new initiative were to be enforced before US travellers – the majority of whom do not possess passports – had sufficient time to obtain the necessary documents.
The Caribbean region was asking for a deadline on par with that set for Mexico and Canada – a January, 2008 deadline. After consideration of the region’s concerns, the US Department of Homeland Security decided to extend the original deadline for the Caribbean, a January, 2006 deadline, to 2007.
Information regarding the possible additional extension of the deadline is expected to be released tomorrow.
By KARIN HERIG Tribune Staff Reporter
