Headlines:
| Macmillan to take the Oath of Office |
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| Tuesday, 13 May 2008 | |
Colonel Trevor MacMillan will officially assume office
Tuesday as Jamaica's
new Minister of National Security.Colonel MacMillan will be sworn in as a Government Senator and Cabinet Minister at a ceremony to be held at King's House at 10am. He will take the Oath of Office less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced his appointment. Colonel McMillan will be back in the public glare a little over decade after stepping down as Commissioner of Police. He will take over the National Security portfolio at a time when the country is grappling with a record high increase in the number of murders. Colonel McMillan rose to fame in the early 1990's as the no-nonsense head of the Revenue Protection Division. His appointment as head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force in 1993 broke tradition as he did not have formal police training. He became involved in politics before the 2007 general election when he was appointed to the Senate by the then Opposition Jamaica Labour Party. Colonel MacMillan has been an advisor to the Minister of Finance since last October.  No quick fix As the retired army Colonel prepares to take up office, Jamaicans are being told not to expect the country's crime problem to be solved overnight. "Examine the murder statistics over the last 40, 42 years ... whatever the situation is at this time of the year it is going to take us down to December, so let us not think that any strategy will have more than a marginal impact on what is going on with the murder rate, (that is) unrealistic," said former Advisor at the Ministry of National Security, Harold Crooks. Meeting with the Force One of Colonel McMillan's first tasks as National Security Minister will be to meet with all gazetted officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. RJR News has been informed that officers from across the island have been summoned to the meeting which is scheduled for 12 noon at the Police Officers Club on Hope Road. The meeting will follow talks involving Prime Minister Bruce Golding and the executive of the Police Officers Association. A source in the Association confirmed the meeting is scheduled to take place at Jamaica House. The meeting is expected to quell disquiet over the appointment of the new National Security Minister. Butting heads 
There are predictions of a rocky relationship between the
incoming National Security Minister and Commissioner of Police Read Admiral
Hardley Lewin. Former Advisor at the Ministry of National Security Harold Crooks said there are likely to be personality clashes. "It is likely to be managed in the first few months because both persons are mature people but they're likely to be some clashes later on when policy comes in conflict with operational direction." He said both Colonel MacMillan and Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin are strong-willed and know what they want. "Minister MacMillan is likely to stretch the envelope to its very limits so there is the possibility of personality clashes," said Mr. Crooks. |