Although Colombia has been ranked as the top drug producer in the world, National Security Minister Jack Warner believes T&T should emulate them in their drug eradication efforts. In October, US Bloomberg Businessweek referred to Colombia as the world's largest cocaine producer and said that "illegal gold mining is becoming the next major threat to security as government efforts to crack down on drug crops prompt rebels to seek new revenue sources."
However, Warner who spoke about Government's decision to hold talks with Colombia over the purchase of six new naval vessels said his research showed that the South American country had one of the most successful anti-drug programmes.
Speaking at the official launch of the Edinburgh 500 Police Youth Club in Chaguanas yesterday, Warner said Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos Calderon has been receiving high commendation from the US Government for his country's anti-narcotics programme. He said: "Do your research and you will see. You will find that the Colombian president is one who is now being lauded by even the US Government.
"So it's something he is doing right, and if he is doing something right, it's good for us to emulate what is happening." Warner said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been in talks with Calderon and soon a delegation will journey to Colombia to view its type of war vessels.
"We are going to see what ways we can benefit from their experiences and we are capable of doing it here. I see nothing wrong with that." Asked what kind of vessels Government was seeking, Warner said that it was not prudent at this time to give specifics when negotiations were taking place.
"What I will tell you is that they are not OPVs. But I can't tell you now what kind of vessels they are. At the appropriate time we shall make the announcements and we will see for ourselves that we, in a sense, have benefited."
He criticised Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley for statements made regarding Government's successful arbitration with British Aerospace Engineering (BAE), over the cancellation of three OPVs, saying that PNM had committed many offences during their tenure. He said what his Government had done was to correct the wrongs of the PNM.
"He had predicted that we would have lost the case. He predicted that there would have been massive losses. Today, it is different and he as a leader in the waiting couldn't find it in his guts to say congratulations. All he said is we were lucky.
"We will be lucky in 2015," Warner said.