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play the fool.
<SPAN class=Subheadline>HEART TO HEART</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>Dear Reader,<P class=StoryText align=justify>As much as the ruling People's National Party (PNP) would wish for all of us to be afflicted with chronic amnesia, the Trafigura matter cannot, and will not go away. It shouldn't, because it raises some very serious moral and ethical issues that go way beyond the return of the $31 million to the Dutch-based company.<P class=StoryText align=justify>To expect the Jamaican public to simply forget that Trafigura took place represents the height of arrogance and disrespect, and we should protest in the strongest way possible. The fact that a senior government minister could actually say that the issue is dead demonstrates the blatant disregard that the government has for the people of Jamaica. All that is left for them to do is to tell us to "shut up our damn mouths".<P class=StoryText align=justify>The people of this country, rich and poor, black, brown and white, uptown and downtown, deserve to know the truth about Trafigura. It is our right as citizens, and we must send a message to the governing party that we will not relinquish that right. To this day, nobody in government has been able to tell us what services Trafigura paid the PNP for. When caught, the party said that it was a donation. Trafigura refuted that story and claimed that the money was payment for a "commercial" arrangement. It is our right to know what that commercial arrangement was, if it is so, and we will continue to ask the question until the truth is told.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I would like to know what gives the PNP the audacity to think that we don't deserve to know the truth. They must know in no uncertain terms that no amount of arrogance, bullying or subtle intimidation will prevent us from pressing for answers. I'm sorry, Mr Buchanan, Trafigura is not dead, it is very much alive!<P class=StoryText align=justify>Obviously, the PNP is out of touch with what Jamaicans are thinking and saying. The word on the street since the announcement that the money is en route to Holland is, what proof do we have that it was really returned? "We can't trust them," one man chanted. And there are any more questions.
Since Trafigura stated that the money was for a "commercial" arrangement, what is to become of that arrangement now that the money is being returned? Admittedly, it is a little difficult to put the pieces of the "commercial" puzzle together regarding the possible cancellation of the arrangement, since we still don't know what the original commercial arrangement was, and therein lies the crux of the matter.
Until the truth is told about what Trafigura paid for, we will never be able to figure it out sensibly.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The talk on the street is also about the source of the "en-route funds". Who bankrolled the $31 million that is being sent, and under what conditions? If we are not careful, another scandal may be waiting in the wings about "the other $31 million", and we may just have our own local version of Trafigura. As far as we know, the party doesn't have much money. So where did it find $31 million?<P class=StoryText align=justify>And what about Trafigura? Is the company in agreement with the trade-off? In other words, is Trafigura content with exchanging the $31 million for what we are assuming is the cancellation of the "commercial" arrangement? How important is that secret "commercial" arrangement to the company, and has Trafigura been able to find other ways to get around this untidy hurdle?<P class=StoryText align=justify>I can't tell you how many people have asked me why the Opposition leader and key members of the private sector have been so silent on the matter or have outrightly lost the vigour for truth, as seems to be the case with Mr Golding
play the fool.
<SPAN class=Subheadline>HEART TO HEART</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Dear Reader,<P class=StoryText align=justify>As much as the ruling People's National Party (PNP) would wish for all of us to be afflicted with chronic amnesia, the Trafigura matter cannot, and will not go away. It shouldn't, because it raises some very serious moral and ethical issues that go way beyond the return of the $31 million to the Dutch-based company.<P class=StoryText align=justify>To expect the Jamaican public to simply forget that Trafigura took place represents the height of arrogance and disrespect, and we should protest in the strongest way possible. The fact that a senior government minister could actually say that the issue is dead demonstrates the blatant disregard that the government has for the people of Jamaica. All that is left for them to do is to tell us to "shut up our damn mouths".<P class=StoryText align=justify>The people of this country, rich and poor, black, brown and white, uptown and downtown, deserve to know the truth about Trafigura. It is our right as citizens, and we must send a message to the governing party that we will not relinquish that right. To this day, nobody in government has been able to tell us what services Trafigura paid the PNP for. When caught, the party said that it was a donation. Trafigura refuted that story and claimed that the money was payment for a "commercial" arrangement. It is our right to know what that commercial arrangement was, if it is so, and we will continue to ask the question until the truth is told.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I would like to know what gives the PNP the audacity to think that we don't deserve to know the truth. They must know in no uncertain terms that no amount of arrogance, bullying or subtle intimidation will prevent us from pressing for answers. I'm sorry, Mr Buchanan, Trafigura is not dead, it is very much alive!<P class=StoryText align=justify>Obviously, the PNP is out of touch with what Jamaicans are thinking and saying. The word on the street since the announcement that the money is en route to Holland is, what proof do we have that it was really returned? "We can't trust them," one man chanted. And there are any more questions.
Since Trafigura stated that the money was for a "commercial" arrangement, what is to become of that arrangement now that the money is being returned? Admittedly, it is a little difficult to put the pieces of the "commercial" puzzle together regarding the possible cancellation of the arrangement, since we still don't know what the original commercial arrangement was, and therein lies the crux of the matter.
Until the truth is told about what Trafigura paid for, we will never be able to figure it out sensibly.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The talk on the street is also about the source of the "en-route funds". Who bankrolled the $31 million that is being sent, and under what conditions? If we are not careful, another scandal may be waiting in the wings about "the other $31 million", and we may just have our own local version of Trafigura. As far as we know, the party doesn't have much money. So where did it find $31 million?<P class=StoryText align=justify>And what about Trafigura? Is the company in agreement with the trade-off? In other words, is Trafigura content with exchanging the $31 million for what we are assuming is the cancellation of the "commercial" arrangement? How important is that secret "commercial" arrangement to the company, and has Trafigura been able to find other ways to get around this untidy hurdle?<P class=StoryText align=justify>I can't tell you how many people have asked me why the Opposition leader and key members of the private sector have been so silent on the matter or have outrightly lost the vigour for truth, as seems to be the case with Mr Golding