Prime Minister Philip Davis’s Remarks at the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Vessel Inspection

Good afternoon.

Yesterday I walked the streets of Southern Shores with our police officers. 

I sat with families. I heard from residents who told me, for the first time in years, they feel the tide turning. 

Homicides down 26 percent. 

Armed robberies down 39 percent. Housebreakings cut nearly in half. 

That is what our police are delivering, and I commend every officer for that.

But keeping this country safe does not end at our streets. 

We have 100,000 square miles of ocean to defend. That is why I am standing here today at Prince George Wharf.

Take a look behind me. That is a 41-foot high-speed interceptor Safe Boat. 

It does 40 knots. It can operate in shallow water across our archipelago. And it is out there, patrolling our borders, chasing down smugglers, protecting our fisheries.

Since we took office, we have put over 260 new marines into the Defence Force. 

We commissioned four of these Safe Boats and new jet skis. 

We are currently overhauling three major vessels in the Netherlands. 

We expanded our coastal radar to Ragged Island and Inagua. 

We stood up a drone programme. 

And in January, we promoted 310 officers and marines because the people doing this work deserve to know their country values them.

Now let me tell you what that investment has produced.

The RBDF has interdicted 344 smuggling vessels and apprehended close to 12,000 migrants over the past five years. 

Last year, migrant apprehensions fell 78 percent. 

We passed the Smuggling of Migrants Bill so for the first time in our history, human smuggling carries real criminal penalties. 

Up to $200,000 in fines. Up to 10 years in prison. 

If you endanger a child, 15 years.

Our Maritime Revenue Task Force has put $20 million back into the public treasury. 

Money that was being lost. Money that belongs to the Bahamian people.

And on our fisheries, we are done tolerating foreign operators who treat our waters like their personal fishing ground. 

Operation Red Dawn. Operation Dragnet. Vessels seized.

Hundreds of thousands in fines. Americans charged. Dominicans put on notice. 

If you come into Bahamian waters illegally, we will catch you, we will take your boat, and you will answer to Bahamian law.

Yesterday was about our streets. 

Today is about our seas. 

That is the 5 Pillars working together. 

Policing. Community investment. Youth programmes. Border security. Law reform.

One strategy. One direction.

I want to thank Commodore Moxey and every marine in this force. 

What they do out on that water, often unseen, often unrecognised, keeps this country standing. I see it. This government sees it. And we will keep backing them.

Now I would like to invite Minister Munroe, our Minister of National Security, to share a few words on the legislative progress we are making to strengthen our security framework.

I will then ask Minister Campbell, our Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, to speak on what we are doing to protect our fisheries and the livelihoods of Bahamian fishermen.

And I will ask Commodore Moxey to give you an operational perspective on the work of the Defence Force and what this vessel and others like it mean for the protection of our borders.

Minister Munroe.