Some $340 million was spent to acquire 27 new vessels for the marine police of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, as part of efforts to improve border security in Jamaica's territorial waters.

This was disclosed by Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, in his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives recently.

"The current security environment dictates that global security is only as strong as its weakest link anywhere. While we cannot be police to the world, our responsibility is to ensure that our border management systems are as secure as possible," Dr. Phillips said.

In the meantime, he said that the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) received the HMSJ Surrey, the third of three offshore patrol vessels bought at a cost of US$30 million.

He noted that the JDF is in the process of upgrading and standardising its regular helicopter fleet with new Bell machines at a cost of US$14 million. The first two of four have already arrived and are in service, he informed.

Turning to the new JDF Aviation Training School, the Security Minister said that four aircraft and two helicopters are to be acquired for the school to meet the training requirements. Currently, the school has two training aircraft.