#BTColumn – School safety needs specialised defence planning

The recent occurrences at a public school in Barbados have earned enormous attention following the negligence of a planned “simulation drill”.

Such planning committees should be separate from school committees so that careful and strategic planning can be done by persons specialising in defence.

A breach of the school’s outer perimeter should be tested by a simulation first before a ‘post-breach’ simulation happens. Starting at the perimeter also prepares the students inside the school to participate in an organised response to approaching dangers.
Loud noises and scare tactics can be used in perimeter drills also, to help prepare the students for drills ‘post-breach’.

I propose that a Ddisaster and anti-terrorism defence ministry should be created and the national security ministry be re-imagined. Tell us what National Security has defended us from. Past incompetencies in national security range from many recurring security breaches at ports-of-entries and equipment of terrorism entering our country and are easily accessible to untrained non-military hands in the streets of Barbados.

Such a defence and anti-terrorism ministry should compromise at least six positions/departments and I propose that “department A” should be administration. Disaster preparedness, terrorism preparedness, defence strategy (against disaster and terrorism), digital defence and external affairs should be departments B, C, D, E and F respectively. Importantly, I want to add that disaster preparedness and terrorism preparedness both should share a sub-department as they both can mean the same thing, but managed separately.

Both disaster preparedness and terrorism preparedness departments should maintain progressive research and development in drone and submarine technology. External affairs’ focus should be to enhance diplomatic relationships with a strict confidentiality framework. Risk management and resource control are both columns on which such a ministry would need to stand.

Such a ministry can provide a team, like Zakka Search and Rescue which originates from the
Middle East, for specific search and rescue and relief missions for ourselves and other Caribbean territories, instead of decreasing our already small army security at home at any one time. Disasters breed exploiters, and exploitation usually comes with corruption and infiltration.

Jelani Dottin