The United Kingdom and the Commonwealth

20 Mar 2008
Ms Abbott: As well as the effect on the economy in terms of coffee growing, tourism and so on, another effect of climate change in such islands and small island states across the world is that people who have built their houses in exposed parts of their country have to keep rebuilding their homes year after year—sometimes after less than six months. We need to provide more support and the technical infrastructure to avoid such devastation.

Meg Munn: I agree entirely with my hon. Friend.

...

Ms Abbott: On the interception of drugs, my hon. Friend knows that one of the major sources of drug problems in the Caribbean is cocaine, which comes across from south America and is then shipped out. It comes across on fast speedboats, which are faster than anything that the Jamaican defence forces have. As I said earlier, we could do a lot more to offer them support in the form of equipment to intercept those speedboats.

Meg Munn: I shall look further into the issues that my hon. Friend raises. We have had some success in disrupting the drugs trade but it is a serious problem. We are also working in some south American countries to try to stop production. The role of my hon. Friend the Minister for the Middle East is important in that respect.



back ⇢