Green party asks if foreign mercenaries will be trained at St Athan

Will foreign mercenaries be trained at the St Athan training camp?

The Wales Green Party call on the Labour/Plaid Cymru coalition to come clean on the true cost - financial, social and environmental - of the proposed military training centre at St Athens. The proposed development being taken forward by Matrix is alike to the privatization of the armed forces with one of the main partners being the controversial US arms manufacturer Raytheon. Members of the Wales Green Party will be attending a meeting organised by the Anti-Metrix campaign at the Welsh Assembly and attended by Assembly Members opposed to the military training centre.

Jake Griffiths, spokesperson for the Wales Green Party, said “Who will be trained at the site? Will it be soldiers from overseas countries who are in a current state of conflict – such as Israel – be able to be trained there. Will private security firm staff be trained there – for all intense and purposes mercenaries. Neither Metrix or the Government will state who will and who will not be trained at the site. Will private military companies, such as Blackwater, be able to be trained there”.

He continued “The costs for the project continue to rise and but what will be the true cost? The estimated cost has jumped from £1b to £12 Billion but is that the end. The viability is so questionable that one of the major partners Land Securities recently pulled out. Jobs created at the military training centre are again unclear with the majority being given to staff relocated to St Athans from other parts of the UK were training centres will have to close.”

“The area of the proposed site while it is currently an airfield is primarily rural in character and the development will be totally out of keeping. There are likely to be significant increases in traffic with calls for more road building to and from the site but no clear transport plan has yet to be produced for the project or cost estimate.”

The Wales Green Party have written to Metrix and the Labour/Plaid Cymru coalition asking for an explanation to the questions raised.