New stabicraft for RSIPF in Western Province
POLICE MOBILITY IN WESTERN PROVINCE BOOSTED WITH NEW STABICRAFT
The mobility of officers in the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force working in the Western Province will be boosted following the official handover of a new Stabi-Craft vessel by the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands at a ceremony held in Gizo on 11 November 2015.
The Stabi-Craft is one of nine mid-range vessels that will be gifted by the RAMSI Participating Police Force to RSIPF to assist officers reach some of the remote islands in the provinces and attend to issues of law and order.
“With the geography of Solomon Islands featuring hundreds of islands reachable only by sea, RSIPF had faced challenges spreading the message of crime prevention through its community policing and attending to reports of criminal activities from the communities. Under its capacity development for the RSIPF, RAMSI has identified infrastructure projects including the roll out of the Stabi-Craft vessels to assist the force to reach some of the most remote communities in the country,” said Alex Cameron, RAMSI Acting Special Coordinator.
“The Stabi-Craft project is part of the sustainable RSIPF Maritime Capability that the RAMSI police have been developing to enable the local police to be more mobile and effectively operate its fleet after the Mission’s Drawdown,” said Greg Harrigan, Commander of the RAMSI PPF.
Mr Harrigan explained, “the Stabi-Craft project includes the construction of boat ramps at the provincial centres that will be receiving the vessels as well as training for RSIPF officers on the operation and maintenance of the craft.”
“With the training the RSIPF have received, I am confident that they will do a professional job of taking care of the vessels well into the future.”
In thanking RAMSI, Commissioner of the RSIPF, Frank Prendergast said the implementation of the Stabi-Craft project will greatly assist the implementation of the Force’s crime prevention strategy.
“The police should be seen as part of the community but because of the fact that it is not feasible to post a police officer in every community throughout Solomon Islands, the only way is for the police to visit as much as possible and to increase the rate of response to reports of criminal activities from the communities,” said Commissioner Prendergast.
Mr Prendergast called on members of the communities throughout Solomon Islands to value the Stabi-Craft vessels as they can be expensive to maintain and great assets to the provinces.
The Stabi-Craft vessels are a 2900 Super Cab model powered by twin 200 hp Yamaha four stroke outboard motors. Each vessel can carry eight passengers.
The official handover of the rest of the fleet to police in the other provincial centres will be done in the coming months.