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PNP owes Horne $31m for Trafigura
BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large icu@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, November 15, 2010
THE People's National Party (PNP) still owes Norman Horne, a former candidate, the $31 million he paid on the party's behalf to Dutch oil trading firm Trafigura Beheer.
A senior PNP official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, revealed for the first time that it was Horne who bankrolled the payback of the $31 million that one of the party's affiliate groups got from Trafigura.
HORNE… I have no comment on that issue
CAMPBELL… I know of no rule which says that the people have to give out that kind of information regarding which cheque leaf was used
HORNE… I have no comment on that issue
#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img { filter: none ! important; } 
1/2 
Horne declined to comment on the matter when the Observer contacted him.
"My friend, I have no comment on that issue," was all the businessman would say when queried by this reporter.
The oil trading firm, which sold Nigerian crude on the international market for Jamaica, said the money was for a commercial transaction that the PNP group called CCOC (Colin Campbell Our Candidate) had undertaken on its behalf.
But amid stinging charges of corruption over receiving money from a firm contracted by the State, the PNP said the money was received as election campaign support dating back to 2006, through the group headed by Colin Campbell, the former information and development minister.
In damage control mode, then prime minister and PNP president Portia Simpson Miller later ordered that it should be repaid.
Horne, a businessman and construction systems mogul, who represented the PNP in the 2007 general election as a losing candidate in South East St Elizabeth, paid back the money to Trafigura from his own funds, the Observer source said.
Checks with several PNP top officers subsequently indicated that the party was still indebted to Horne for the $31 million but no one could say when it would be repaid by the cash-strapped party.
Horne agreed to put up the money because the party had already used up the gift in its 2007 election campaign.
The payback to Trafigura initially hit a snag and was finally ironed out when the oil firm, itself the subject of an investigation in Europe, decided to accept it along clearly defined lines, the Observer was told.
Trafigura was found to be criminally responsible for dumping toxic waste near Abidjan, the former capital of the Ivory Coast, and forced to pay over one million euros.
"He (Horne) stepped forward and agreed to pay back the money when the party leader insisted that it should be repaid. The party would then pay him back on a phased basis," the senior party official said.
None of several PNP executives who spoke with the Observer knew when the repayment to Horne would begin.
Campbell was the first casualty of the Trafigura scandal, resigning his ministerial job, the post of general secretary, and dropping out of the limelight.
But Campbell had the last laugh after it was revealed that Sonia Christie (now deceased), an employee of FirstCaribbean Bank, had released information to JLP officials, resulting in Campbell suing the bank for breaching confidentiality in respect of the account.
FirstCaribbean settled the matter out of court and reportedly paid Campbell in the region of $30 million.
Asked for his comment, Campbell maintained that the issue of who paid back the money was a private one and should remain so.
"I left the secretariat in 2006. The party has said that the money has been paid back. I know of no rule which says that the people (PNP or Trafigura) have to give out that kind of information regarding which cheque leaf was used," Campbell said.
PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill also declined to provide details on the Trafigura issue when the Observer caught up with him after a recent party retreat in Hanover.
"I can't say anything on that matter at this time," Pickersgill said. "We didn't discuss that matter."
General Secretary Peter Bunting said he had never handled anything related to the Trafigura issue.
"I can't really give you much insight into those details. I have not been involved in anything with Trafigura since I became general secretary in 2008," Bunting said, referring the reporter to general secretary at the time, Donald Buchanan.
The former general secretary, however, declined to confirm or deny that Horne had paid the money on the PNP's behalf.
"I have put Trafigura to rest. I will say nothing more on that matter," Buchanan said in a recent interview.
The issue of whether or not the money from Trafigura was repaid is now likely to be put to rest, although the larger issue of Campbell's involvement in respect of his pending candidacy in North Central Clarendon will likely gain traction.
Like every candidate seeking to represent the PNP in general elections, Campbell must first prove to the party's Integrity Commission that his role in the Trafigura issue was absolutely above board and later stand the test of time in an advertising campaign war that the JLP is likely to unleash during the next national polls about the ethical soundness of the Trafigura saga.
Unless Horne begins to make any noise about the non-payment of his money.
BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large icu@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, November 15, 2010
THE People's National Party (PNP) still owes Norman Horne, a former candidate, the $31 million he paid on the party's behalf to Dutch oil trading firm Trafigura Beheer.
A senior PNP official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, revealed for the first time that it was Horne who bankrolled the payback of the $31 million that one of the party's affiliate groups got from Trafigura.
HORNE… I have no comment on that issue
CAMPBELL… I know of no rule which says that the people have to give out that kind of information regarding which cheque leaf was used
HORNE… I have no comment on that issue#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img { filter: none ! important; }
1/2 "My friend, I have no comment on that issue," was all the businessman would say when queried by this reporter.
The oil trading firm, which sold Nigerian crude on the international market for Jamaica, said the money was for a commercial transaction that the PNP group called CCOC (Colin Campbell Our Candidate) had undertaken on its behalf.
But amid stinging charges of corruption over receiving money from a firm contracted by the State, the PNP said the money was received as election campaign support dating back to 2006, through the group headed by Colin Campbell, the former information and development minister.
In damage control mode, then prime minister and PNP president Portia Simpson Miller later ordered that it should be repaid.
Horne, a businessman and construction systems mogul, who represented the PNP in the 2007 general election as a losing candidate in South East St Elizabeth, paid back the money to Trafigura from his own funds, the Observer source said.
Checks with several PNP top officers subsequently indicated that the party was still indebted to Horne for the $31 million but no one could say when it would be repaid by the cash-strapped party.
Horne agreed to put up the money because the party had already used up the gift in its 2007 election campaign.
The payback to Trafigura initially hit a snag and was finally ironed out when the oil firm, itself the subject of an investigation in Europe, decided to accept it along clearly defined lines, the Observer was told.
Trafigura was found to be criminally responsible for dumping toxic waste near Abidjan, the former capital of the Ivory Coast, and forced to pay over one million euros.
"He (Horne) stepped forward and agreed to pay back the money when the party leader insisted that it should be repaid. The party would then pay him back on a phased basis," the senior party official said.
None of several PNP executives who spoke with the Observer knew when the repayment to Horne would begin.
Campbell was the first casualty of the Trafigura scandal, resigning his ministerial job, the post of general secretary, and dropping out of the limelight.
But Campbell had the last laugh after it was revealed that Sonia Christie (now deceased), an employee of FirstCaribbean Bank, had released information to JLP officials, resulting in Campbell suing the bank for breaching confidentiality in respect of the account.
FirstCaribbean settled the matter out of court and reportedly paid Campbell in the region of $30 million.
Asked for his comment, Campbell maintained that the issue of who paid back the money was a private one and should remain so.
"I left the secretariat in 2006. The party has said that the money has been paid back. I know of no rule which says that the people (PNP or Trafigura) have to give out that kind of information regarding which cheque leaf was used," Campbell said.
PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill also declined to provide details on the Trafigura issue when the Observer caught up with him after a recent party retreat in Hanover.
"I can't say anything on that matter at this time," Pickersgill said. "We didn't discuss that matter."
General Secretary Peter Bunting said he had never handled anything related to the Trafigura issue.
"I can't really give you much insight into those details. I have not been involved in anything with Trafigura since I became general secretary in 2008," Bunting said, referring the reporter to general secretary at the time, Donald Buchanan.
The former general secretary, however, declined to confirm or deny that Horne had paid the money on the PNP's behalf.
"I have put Trafigura to rest. I will say nothing more on that matter," Buchanan said in a recent interview.
The issue of whether or not the money from Trafigura was repaid is now likely to be put to rest, although the larger issue of Campbell's involvement in respect of his pending candidacy in North Central Clarendon will likely gain traction.
Like every candidate seeking to represent the PNP in general elections, Campbell must first prove to the party's Integrity Commission that his role in the Trafigura issue was absolutely above board and later stand the test of time in an advertising campaign war that the JLP is likely to unleash during the next national polls about the ethical soundness of the Trafigura saga.
Unless Horne begins to make any noise about the non-payment of his money.
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