Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 23, 2020 (SKNIS): Lieutenant J. Anthony Comrie, Commander of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF), said that his institution continues to play an active role in the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Federation.
“The St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force has been involved against the fight of the COVID-19 from the inception as a member of the COVID-19 Task Force and continues on all other teams that have been built out as we engage this pandemic such as the quarantine monitoring and the compliance teams,” said Commander Comrie, at the April 22 edition of the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) COVID-19 Daily Briefing. “We also provide security for COVID-19 patients. The Infantry stands alongside our sister agency – the police – on the front-line creating VCPs, patrolling day and night in our communities, as well as providing security and social distancing measures at the supermarkets and other places of business on partial lock-down days.”
The SKNDF Commander said that the Coast Guard unit has been very instrumental to date protecting the Federation’s borders.
“The Coast Guard has also been engaged in the fight by assisting all other government agencies and essential workers which include transportation of officials to and from Nevis, as well as transportation of COVID-19 samples to meet the [Regional Security Service] RSS Aircraft,” said Lieutenant Comrie. “The unit has also been activated at sea through increased maritime patrols to protect against the illegal entrance of vessels and contraband in our territorial waters. We have also been intercepting vessels requesting to enter the Federation via our territorial seas and legal ports. This I must admit has kept us busy since the closure of our borders,” he added.
He noted that “to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force is taking precautions internally to protect and preserve the health and wellness of its soldiers and sailors,” and expressed heartfelt thanks to the hardworking men and women of the SKNDF.
Commander Comrie recognized several individuals who have joined the SKNDF to assist in the fight against the coronavirus in the Federation. Such individuals include Marc Williams, Director of Maritime Resources for “making his department’s vessel available; Nicole Slack-Liburd, Permanent Secretary of Health in Nevis “for her cooperation, and Mike Napier, Captain of the MV Freewinds for “their generous donation of several masks and gloves to the Coast Guard.”
The SKNDF consists of the Regular Corps which includes the Infantry and Coast Guard, the Reserve Force, the Defence Force Band and the Cadet Corps. The main duties of the institution are to “protect the Federation from external aggression and to assist the civil power to maintain law and order” in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
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