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Trafigura bribery!
Dutch get all-clear to probe firm that gave PNP $31MBALFORD HENRY, Observer writer
balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
THE nasty Trafigura scandal that rocked the previous People's National Party (PNP) government last year, boomeranged yesterday, putting unwanted pressure on an already embattled Opposition.
Shaken by the Cuban light bulb scandal which it was still desperately fending off yesterday, Portia Simpson Miller's PNP was hit by news from Prime Minister Bruce Golding that the Dutch police believe oil trading firm Trafigura Beheer had bribed Jamaican public officials in 2006.
In a statement to the House of Representatives, Golding said that on October 31 he was advised by the Dutch authorities that "Trafigua Beheer is believed to be guilty of having bribed public officials of a foreign state, namely Jamaica".
"Such an offence is punishable under sections 177 and 178 (a) of the Dutch criminal code," the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader added.
The Trafigura scandal consumed the nation for months last year, after it emerged that the company which traded oil for Jamaica on the international market, had given $31 million to an account operated by then PNP general secretary, Colin Campbell.
The PNP maintained that the money was a donation to the party, while Trafigura Beheer insisted it was payment for a bauxite transaction. At the height of the scandal, Campbell resigned and Simpson Miller ordered the money sent back.
But Golding who blew the affair open at a press conference, had in the meantime, invited the Dutch government to supply information on the deal, on grounds that it would be illegal under restrictive European Community laws on transnational corporations.
Yesterday, he informed the House that from February this year, the Dutch authorities had been seeking permission from the Jamaican government to undertake "official legal investigations" into the matter here.
But the request was denied by the former government, on the grounds that it did not fall under the necessary legislative arrangements.
He pointed out, however, that the request had been made pursuant to a UN Convention which both Jamaica and the Netherlands had ratified.
The prime minister said that the Dutch authorities were still desirous of pursuing the investigations against Trafigura, originally launched there by its National Public Prosecutor's Office in January.
The prosecutor's office had renewed its request to be allowed to come to Jamaica to question local officials said to have been involved in the $31 million transaction between Trafigura and the PNP in 2006, he added.
Among the officials the Dutch wanted to see are Colin Campbell; PNP chairman Bobby Pickersgill; Phillip Paulwell, who is also at the centre of the light bulb affair, and Golding, who first reported the Trafigua-PNP deal.
Golding said that his government supported the view that the issues warranted much deeper investigation than had been the case up to now. His government was also of the view that investigations done locally could be assisted by collaborating with the Dutch authorities, since Trafigura fell outside Jamaica's domestic jurisdiction.
"I, therefore, wish to advise that, on my instructions, the Minister of Justice has issued an Order pursuant to Section 32(2) of the Mutual Assistance Act declaring that the provisions of the Act shall apply to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime and designating the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a foreign state to which the provisions of the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) Act applies," the prime minister said.
He pointed out that this would enable the government to consider the Dutch authorities' request to travel to Jamaica to carry out their investigations here.
However, as the Order was subject to affirmation by the House, he said that he would move an appropriate resolution to confirm it so that the request could be properly considered.
Dutch get all-clear to probe firm that gave PNP $31MBALFORD HENRY, Observer writer
balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
THE nasty Trafigura scandal that rocked the previous People's National Party (PNP) government last year, boomeranged yesterday, putting unwanted pressure on an already embattled Opposition.
Shaken by the Cuban light bulb scandal which it was still desperately fending off yesterday, Portia Simpson Miller's PNP was hit by news from Prime Minister Bruce Golding that the Dutch police believe oil trading firm Trafigura Beheer had bribed Jamaican public officials in 2006.
In a statement to the House of Representatives, Golding said that on October 31 he was advised by the Dutch authorities that "Trafigua Beheer is believed to be guilty of having bribed public officials of a foreign state, namely Jamaica".
"Such an offence is punishable under sections 177 and 178 (a) of the Dutch criminal code," the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader added.
The Trafigura scandal consumed the nation for months last year, after it emerged that the company which traded oil for Jamaica on the international market, had given $31 million to an account operated by then PNP general secretary, Colin Campbell.
The PNP maintained that the money was a donation to the party, while Trafigura Beheer insisted it was payment for a bauxite transaction. At the height of the scandal, Campbell resigned and Simpson Miller ordered the money sent back.
But Golding who blew the affair open at a press conference, had in the meantime, invited the Dutch government to supply information on the deal, on grounds that it would be illegal under restrictive European Community laws on transnational corporations.
Yesterday, he informed the House that from February this year, the Dutch authorities had been seeking permission from the Jamaican government to undertake "official legal investigations" into the matter here.
But the request was denied by the former government, on the grounds that it did not fall under the necessary legislative arrangements.
He pointed out, however, that the request had been made pursuant to a UN Convention which both Jamaica and the Netherlands had ratified.
The prime minister said that the Dutch authorities were still desirous of pursuing the investigations against Trafigura, originally launched there by its National Public Prosecutor's Office in January.
The prosecutor's office had renewed its request to be allowed to come to Jamaica to question local officials said to have been involved in the $31 million transaction between Trafigura and the PNP in 2006, he added.
Among the officials the Dutch wanted to see are Colin Campbell; PNP chairman Bobby Pickersgill; Phillip Paulwell, who is also at the centre of the light bulb affair, and Golding, who first reported the Trafigua-PNP deal.
Golding said that his government supported the view that the issues warranted much deeper investigation than had been the case up to now. His government was also of the view that investigations done locally could be assisted by collaborating with the Dutch authorities, since Trafigura fell outside Jamaica's domestic jurisdiction.
"I, therefore, wish to advise that, on my instructions, the Minister of Justice has issued an Order pursuant to Section 32(2) of the Mutual Assistance Act declaring that the provisions of the Act shall apply to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime and designating the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a foreign state to which the provisions of the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) Act applies," the prime minister said.
He pointed out that this would enable the government to consider the Dutch authorities' request to travel to Jamaica to carry out their investigations here.
However, as the Order was subject to affirmation by the House, he said that he would move an appropriate resolution to confirm it so that the request could be properly considered.
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