The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

WHILE remaining quiet yesterday on Tellis Bethel’s extended leave from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, Acting RBDF Commander Raymond King insisted the force has been doing “tremendous work” in his absence.

Speaking at the RBDF’s media meet and greet yesterday, Mr King said the commodore is still on leave, but could not reveal when Mr Bethel would return to office.

Shying away from giving details, he deferred the issue. “The minister on behalf of the National Security Council, he’s charged with the command and the administration…of the Defence Force and he speaks to those matters,” Acting Commodore King said.

Commodore Bethel was expected to return to work last month, but National Security Minister Marvin Dames told a local daily recently that the commodore would be out of office “maybe until April”.

As for what he wanted to accomplish while the commodore is on leave, the acting commodore listed a number of milestones for the force to achieve including deepening relationships with regional partners and closing multilateral agreements with partners such as Cuban border guards and the Dominican Republic.

Another goal the RBDF wants to accomplish is creating a search and rescue unit, he said.

“We’re in talks with the Air Accident Investigation Unit. We’re working on an agreement in terms of how both of us will respond particularly if it’s an aircraft crash…. We’re also reaching out to the United States government in terms of building our capacity and capability in that way,” the acting commodore said.

“There (are) a number of things, but there’s much to get done.”

The RBDF has also had a presence on Abaco since Hurricane Dorian. There have been complaints from residents about crime and looting in the aftermath of the storm, prompting the government to increase the number of law enforcement officers there.

When asked about looting concerns on Abaco, Mr King said “the statistics do support that there has been an increased incident of looting or recent reports of looting” but he is “quite satisfied” that they “have firm control”.

He said the RBDF works in conjunction with the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and the Department of Immigration in patrolling the country.

“We undertake static moving patrols, check points through the community…we also support the patrols whenever our vessels go into Abaco and Grand Bahama and we patrol the cays.”

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