300 being trained for stadium security during CWC 2007
- Specialist assistance in counter-terrorism, other areas needed
Guyana Chronicle
December 16, 2006
THREE hundred security personnel, drawn from the Guyana Police Force and private security firms, are being specially trained to man the providence stadium for Super Eight matches of Cricket World Cup 2007, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr. Paul Slowe announced yesterday.
Slowe, who oversees security preparations for Guyana’s hosting of the mega event, said other general security arrangements are “pretty well advanced” but said Guyana as well as the rest of the Caribbean is looking to the international community for help in establishing Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear (CBRN) capabilities, as well as counter-terrorism specialty.
Mr. Slowe over the past two days with Colonel Anthony Anderson, the regional operations commander of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Operational Planning and Coordinating Staff (COPACS).
Anderson said COPACS, which was created at the behest of CRAICOM heads of government at their St. Kitts meeting in July, aims to coordinate the assets of the region and to meet the needs of deficient countries.
He has been traveling the region to look at security preparations in all the nine host venues and says Guyana is as prepared as any other venue in the region.
With CARICOM heads designating the nine host venues, including Dominica, as a single domestic for six months starting mid-January, Anderson said “everybody would like to know that what is happening in the other country would sufficiently protect them from the things they would normally protect themselves from.”
Three senior officers have already undergone training by Oriel Solutions, which has been contracted by CWC as the security training provider. Further, a team from Oriel Solutions will visit Guyana from February 26 – March 2 to train the stadium security personnel.
Slowe stated that it is a requirement of the International Cricket Council (ICC) that each individual who would work in a security capacity at the stadium must be trained by Oriel Solutions and be certified.
He said on a previous visit to the country, the provider was handed the stadium overlay and had determined that 300 persons would be needed to secure the stadium. So, when they arrive to conduct the training, it would not be confined to classroom work, but they would be “walking the ground”.
Mr. Slowe noted that it is also a requirement of the ICC that there be two testing events before the actual event. Mr. Slowe said Guyana would be using the two one day matches of the KFC Cup, on February 2 and 10, for that purpose. He said the Local Organising Committee is working towards ensuring this happens “as far as practical”.
Mr. Slowe noted that while the staff to adequately secured the stadium has to be trained and certified by the UK-based Oriel Solution, this is not required when it comes to the security team batch needed to cover other areas, such as securing practice venues, hotels where Teams, Officials, Media and Sponsors (TOMS).
He emphasized however that such security preparation is as crucial.
“Even though we are going to have a match at the stadium and we have 300 security personnel, made up of Police and private security, there here are going to be a lot of security issues in the country - tourists who have no interest in the match that is taking place that day, wanting to go see sites, wanting to go do shopping, wanting to visit the night spots, we are very conscious of the challenges that are ahead and in our planning and we are catering for all of that,” Slowe emphasized.
Oriel, a UK company which manages safety and security operations at many top cricket and football grounds, has been recruited to execute various objectives, in conformity with the requirements of the ICC CWC 2007 Master Security Plan, encompassing minimum standards and international best practice and achieving a consistent approach to security service delivery across all Host Venues.