The Royal Anguilla Police Force is the recipient of two special vehicles, adding to its fleet of jeeps it received from the United Kingdom three years ago. The latest two were landed at Road Bay by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, RFA Mounts Bay, on Monday, July 31. The vehicles were brought ashore by the ship’s mexefloat system. The shipment also included an assortment of specialist safety and protection equipment.
The refurbished vehicles, called “Mercedes Sprinters”, were previously used by the Sussex Police Service and were made available to the Anguilla Police following an arrangement between the Governor’s Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK Ministry of Defence. The use of RFA Mounts Bay to transport the vehicles to Anguilla was said to have saved thousands of US dollars in transportation costs. Police Commissioner, Paul Morrison, and Governor Christina Scott, witnessed the handover of the vehicles.
Mr. Morrison said the just-arrived vehicles “are loaded with all the safety equipment we need to build upon the training we have been given to make the police force more effective.” He disclosed that both vehicles were made available at a total cost of five thousand pounds and were partly funded under the police budget from underspent UK capital funds. “The intention is to use them as mobile police stations or welfare vehicles in the case of a major incident,” Mr. Morrison explained, adding that they were a significant purchase. “Each vehicle has come with a set of spares as part of the package to allow us to keep them maintained at least for the first year. We have also bundled in, along with that, a lot of safety equipment,” he explained.
Governor Scott said the provision of the vehicles was part of the overall strategy of the police force to improve its service to Anguilla. “From my perspective, it is a fantastic example of cooperation involving the Sussex Police Service the UK, the Governor’s Office, the Anguilla Police and RFA Mounts Bay,” she stated.
Captain and Commanding Officer of the ship, Chris Clarke, also said that the delivery of the vehicles was due to a lot of collaborative and team-work and he was pleased with the involvement of his ship in the arrangement. He was quoted in a press release issued by the Governor’s Office as saying, in part: “It is a privilege to command such a versatile unit with such an amazing and helpful range of military personnel, equipment and capability.”
During its visit to Anguilla on Monday, the ship’s one-day programme also involved disaster relief briefings, assessment and servicing of Anguilla’s emergency relief generators – as well as helicopter training sorties.
RFA Mounts Bay recently arrived in the Caribbean from the UK and has started a series of visits to the region’s UK Overseas Territories as part of a rapid response to any emergency in the territories.
