The first day of the two-day event dubbed “Exercise Stronghold’ by the nation’s security apparatus, has been described as ‘successful’ as the exercise concluded with a briefing at the National Performing Arts Centre on High Street on Wednesday.

Led by the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, the Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force as well as other security agencies, the Exercise involved a ‘soft lockdown’ of the security perimeter dubbed ‘the Red Zone’.

The area that borders Corn Alley on the West, parliament Street on the East, New Street on the South and Upper Newgate Street to Old Parham Road on the north were included in the security zone where vehicular traffic was restricted and where pedestrian movement was prohibited on Upper High Street.

The security team held a briefing with members of the National CHOGM Task Force and other stakeholders at the top of High Street and explained to those in attendance the significance of the exercise.

Brigadier Telbert Benjamin of the ABDF underscored the value of the exercise noting that this was a time when those involved must be able to provide answers to questions when asked.

“What we are going to do today is that we are going to walk this through and we are going to try to address issues relative to everybody. I am going to use a phrase popularized by High Commissioner Karen-Mae Hill; the days for ‘I don’t know’, ‘I am not sure’; those things are gone. We are at the stage in preparation where we either say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. You either say ‘yes’ to the things that you ought to know or ‘no’ if you don’t. This is not an opportunity for guessing, there is no such thing. Secondly, and most importantly, this is an opportunity for us to learn what everyone else is doing and how what we do fits into the overall plan,” he stated.

According to the ABDF Chief, Antigua and Barbuda and the security force are doing an event that is extremely dynamic. “It is beyond anything we have done before, but we have passed the stage when we can say ‘we can’t do it’; we are at the stage where we have to do it,” he declared.

For his part, Commissioner of Police, Everton Jeffers emphasized the importance of key stakeholders attending all such events or exercises to which they were invited. “We have to operate today as how we would operate on Friday (Day 2) or on the actual day of the event. This means if you are supposed to be here, I expect that you would be here because if you are here you would know what will happen on the day of the event and would not need to be asking, what’s next?” he remarked.

During the exercise, the security personnel indicated that many of the areas and building surrounding the main venue site will be secured for the ceremony and they urged everyone who is given a time to be there, to be punctual.

The final leg of the exercise was a briefing in the new Creative Arts Centre where the security personnel gave an overview of what is expected to take place on the day of the event.

Day 1 of Exercise Stronghold came to an end at approximately 10:00 am on Wednesday, a full two hours ahead of schedule. The barriers were removed and normal traffic and activities resumed as are normal in St. John’s.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Day 1 of Exercise Stronghold Described As a Success.