Sunday, July 29 2012

THE EDITOR: An advertisement is now appearing in the newspapers advertising a job in the Ministry of National Security entitled “Director, International Affairs”. One of the duties of this new position is “to establish and maintain a strategic relationship with the national, regional and international agencies/entities responsible for regional and international security issues”. This is a very strange development because this has always been the job of the minister himself.

However, there is another duty of this new position that is also the direct responsibility of any Minister of National Security. It is “to represent the Ministry of National Security at regional and international meetings”/Why then do we need someone else beside the minister to meet with top international security agencies around the world? Is it because the minister would have to travel abroad to fulfil these duties and there is a reluctance to do so? Or is it because the Government suspects that international security agencies would prefer to deal with someone other than the minister?

The Prime Minister herself travels regularly to “sell” Trinidad and Tobago overseas and ministers always take the lead when dealing with their international counterparts. Everyone knows that the international community would prefer to deal directly with the top government official especially with something as sensitive as national security. The new Minister of National Security is promoted as a “hands on” minister, but when it comes to dealing with international security agencies he now appears to be “hands off”.



V CUNNINGHAM

San Fernando