THE CASE FOR USING LOCAL SECURITY FIRMS

The Editor
The Anguillian Newspaper
Stoney Ground
Anguilla

Dear Editor,

THE CASE FOR USING LOCAL SECURITY FIRMS

My name is Franklyn Rogers. I am the Manager Director of J.T.R. ADVANCE SECURITY LIMITED, a company registered in Anguilla since 2001. This company has been providing security in Anguilla since that time. As a child, I was taught to do things the Anguillian way. Just as we build our houses bit by bit, over the years, I have built this company in a similar manner. I started with 2 officers and myself and since 2001, we have grown from 3 to 28 members. Since then, we have added a fleet of armored vehicles. We have also added a patrol unit and a K9 unit and we are still investing and expanding in other areas of security.

My feeling is that to really take the development of security services to the next level here in Anguilla, the Anguillian business community and the Government of Anguilla must invest in local security companies by providing opportunities for employment. After all, charity begins at home.

For the past years, I have seen foreign security companies come in to Anguilla and provide their services for our local Summer Festival. These companies do not contribute anything to this economy. The local companies employ local people, as well as foreign nationals. These firms pay local business license fees, fees for work-permits for foreign nationals, make social security contributions and generate economic activity in general.

J.T.R. ADVANCE SECURITY, in January 2009, sent a proposal to the Government of Anguilla, and the Chairman of the Anguilla Summer Festival to be exact, for the provision of security services for the Summer Festival. To-date, the proposal has never been acknowledged by the Chairman nor the Minister responsible for Social Development either in writing or by way of a telephone call.

Recently, however, media reports have been circulating that the Government of Anguilla is in negotiations with a Sint Maarten-based company for the provision of security services to the tune of US$200,000. The question needs to be posed as to whether or not local government supports, or is interested in, the development of local businesses, or is more interested in developing security firms in Sint Maarten as opposed to Anguillian firms?

There are from my knowledge three registered security companies in operation locally as well as an association of former police officers of the Royal Anguilla Police Force. The simple question then is “What happened to these persons”? Are we not worthy of consideration for the provision of security for our own national Summer Festival? If the argument is that we don’t possess the skills and equipment to provide the necessary services, wouldn’t the awarding of the contract for the provision of security facilitate us in securing the said equipment and training thus making the necessary investments to become qualified for the provision of this service?
A further question worth posing is “Is it fair for the taxes of the people of Anguilla to be used to support and develop the provision of security services in Sint Maarten as opposed to locally, in light of our changing society where the provision of security services is becoming more important”? What is next for our Summer Festival may I ask? Will foreign nationals be imported to participate in our Calypso Monarch competition and the Miss Anguilla Pageant?
I would hope that this letter leads to a broader discussion of how monies are appropriated for the provision of security services during the Summer Festival, which is less than two weeks away, and that next year we don’t find ourselves, yet again, in a situation where we, as Anguillans, are importing foreign firms to police our national Summer Festival due to a calculated policy by local government to disenfranchise local security firms.

Yours respectfully,

Franklyn Rogers
Managing Director
J.T.R. ADVANCE SECURITY