By Garwin Davis, Assistant News Editor
DENOUNCING AS hypocritical concerns raised in Parliament about the drug trade and its link to politics, the narcotics police say the political process is in danger of being over-run by dirty money.
"All sorts of molecules are now floating in the air," said Senior Superintendent Gladstone Wright, second in command of the island's police narcotics division. "When all that drug money was flowing before the elections why nobody said anything then...is it that we are just realizing this?"
Recently, a number of senior politicians on both sides of the political aisle have come out strongly against the drug trade and its growing influence over the political process. Two weeks ago, Government Member of Parliament for South West St. Elizabeth, Donald Buchanan, told Parliament that there were drug traders in Jamaica who were attempting to use their power to control political candidates.
Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, agreed. He told fellow Parliamentarians that drug dealers and other persons involved in illegal activities "are attempting to put a death grip" on the country's politics. Dr. Phillips also warned of a clear and present danger to the political process.
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament for North-East Manchester, Audley Shaw, added that the process of awarding Government contracts is already being contaminated by drug money.
But for Mr. Wright, "This is all coming a little too late. For many politicians, the only thing that is important is winning that seat. For them, that signifies being in the corridors of power...being in a position to award contracts whether or not it has the blessings of the Contracts Committee or the Contractor-General. For many of these politicians, getting there means being affiliated with drug dealers whom we all know will expect something in return."
Mr. Wright charged that the election last year was flooded with drug money, with many politicians gladly accepting donations from unscrupulous sources.
Asked why the police, based on the information, did not try to put a stop to it, Mr. Wright said, "It's the same way we could ask why the people who are now talking didn't bring the information to the police then."
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last Thursday, Dr. Phillips said he refrained from raising his concerns during the election campaign because he didn't want to reduce it to partisan bickering.
"The fact of the matter is that you have to weigh very carefully what you say on matters such as this," the Minister said. But why now? "The issue came up in the House...there was a danger, I perceived, that there was going to be a lot of accusations and counter-accusations across the floor," he continued. "My intervention had one specific purpose namely to say look, this is a national problem. Based on the information that comes to me, I know this is something that is a danger to the entire society and to both major parties...I mean to all parties...that was the purpose of my intervention."
Dr. Phillips added,"I raised that to make the point that the worst thing that could have happened if I had said anything during the elections was that it could have been interpreted in a partisan accusatory way it would have diminished the significance of what I had to say I did not want to seem accusatory and I am still not being accusatory. I am just quite simply saying that this is a threat which the country must wake up to. I am not talking about some petty criminals walking on corners I am talking about serious danger from serious international enterprises linked with local criminal enterprises and that is a danger we face as a country."
Pressed to elaborate on specifics, the Minister said "What you really see is a situation, and this is what I am talking about, where there are elements, some of whom might put on the guise of some sort of legitimacy and will channel significant resources into the political process."
Both the People's National Party (PNP) and the JLP were adamant they would refrain from accepting drug money to fund their campaigns last year. Yesterday Opposition Spokesperson on National Security, Derrick Smith, said while no system is fool-proof, the JLP has a strict code of conduct which warns candidates against accepting campaign donations from questionable sources. He noted, however, that the link between drugs and politics was one of grave national concern and must be treated as such.
General Secretary of the JLP, Ken Baugh, contacted yesterday, said party candidates have been warned against associating themselves with drug dealers.
"Our position is simple, we don't accept money from the drug underworld," Dr. Baugh said, "we tell our candidates to resort to the traditional means of fundraising events. I can't say, however, that we can guarantee this doesn't happen as it would be nearly impossible to monitor what everybody does.
