 A training course on the detection of firearms trafficking opened earlier today at the Police Training Academy at Lattoc. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Caricum Impacts is facilitating the training, which will focus on detection of firearms trafficking through postal and fast parcels and at land and maritime borders targeting competent law enforcement, customs, defence and security forces responsible for border controls. Caricum Impacts Regional Crime and Security Strategy Coordinator Kalistus Joseph explained that representatives of St. Lucia and Caricum Impacts recently met with representatives of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ATF to create a structured framework to assist the Royal St Lucia Police Force to enhance its tracing capabilities. Getting illegal firearms off our streets and out of the hands of criminals means less violence and that means safer communities, you'd have a safer viewport, you'd have safer castries, a safer ancillary and a safer St Lucia. Caricum Impacts through our collective actions with national authorities in Caricum, international authorities, civil society organizations, research institutions and other partners will work with the government of St. Lucia to prevent the trafficking of illicit firearms and ensure illicit guns do not end up on the streets. The training came into being after Caricum Impacts and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC participated in a needs assessment and consultations with the government of St. Lucia which included key entities. A number of issues were brought to the fore which required immediate assistance. These included the strengthening of the country's firearms tracing mechanism to assist criminal investigators to track the origin and purchase of crime gangs to support criminal prosecutors and capacity building training on the detection of firearms trafficking. Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Department of Home Affairs Ricky Quinlan highlighting the challenges faced by St. Lucia in detecting firearms trafficking welcomed the training. The Caribbean with St Lucia being no exception has been grappling with the entry of illicit firearms and the misuse of these firearms primarily by criminal elements to terrorize steal, pillage and take lives. The crime landscape has changed completely as guns have become the preferred weapons for settling scores no matter how trivial resulting in oftentimes in homicides. That is why the government continues to subscribe to the Caribbean firearms roadmap. It is very well articulated that the UNODC Global Firearms Project supports regional efforts to counter the illicit circulation of firearms and to curtail the linkages to other serious crimes. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Caricum Impacts will facilitate the training which will take place from September 21 to 24 2021 at the Police Training Academy at La Tocque. Following this training St Lucia will be equipped with additional capabilities to help law enforcement officials identify gang traffickers, potential suspects and patterns of violent gang crime to help solve criminal cases. From the Government Information Service, I am Genelle Norville.