Ambassador Perry's Speeches

US Navy Ship Bradley (16 Dec 08)

We’re pleased to welcome the US Navy and crew of the Robert G. Bradley to the Sierra Leone.

The Bradley is the first US Navy ship to Sierra Leone. 
We appreciate the leadership, teamwork, and increasing capabilities of the Maritime Wing in working issues of national interest like piracy.

The Maritime Wing has conducted several successful interdiction and search and rescue missions in protecting Sierra Leone’s coastal waters in 2008, and we applaud that progress.
The crew of the Bradley will take the opportunity of during their time in Sierra Leone to discuss issues of mutual interest like domain awareness, counter narcotics and fisheries enforcement.  We hope that they will be able to share their expertise with you and will also learn from the conditions and strategies being used here.

Over the last five years, Sierra Leone has made tremendous progress in moving from a country with active conflict, porous borders, and a complete lack of national security to a country committed to the safety of its citizens.  The United States is proud to have helped in that process, including with our donation of an Automated Information Sustem to the Port Authority and Maritime Wing.  This system uses the latest technology to observe vessels entering and leaving Sierra Leonean waters.

We know that one of the greatest threats to national security now and in the future is the prospect of Sierra Leone becoming a major transshipment zone for narcotics moving from Latin America to Europe.  To demonstrate our commitment to prevent that situation, we are planning a course to build capacity among Boarding Officers, so they know when to board, how to search vessels, and the most effective ways to enforce the law.

Another major threat to national security is a lack of economic development.  Sierra Leone is blessed with abundant natural resources, including minerals, fisheries, timber, and others.  Much of the profit from those resources, however, never enters the hands of Sierra Leoneans.  Right now, Sierra Leone's protected fishing zones are being illegally and over fished by commercial fishing fleets.  This is an economic disaster for Sierra Leone, because those profits never come ashore.  It is also a potential environmental disaster, because fisheries are fragile ecosystems, and overfishing will very quickly devastate local fishing.  Sierra Leonean fishermen are already seeing dramatic reductions in their catches.  Why, I ask you, should foreigners be allowed to pull Sierra Leonean fish out of the water and sail off to Europe or Asia without contributing a dime to the local economy.

In cooperation with the Maritime Wing and the RSLAF in general, we are strongly committed to helping to keep the citizens of Sierra Leone safe and secure.  We are pleased to welcome the Bradley here as a symbol of that commitment and we look forward to similar visits in the future.