By Robert Hart, Staff Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT has given itself a deadline of March 2004 to have the controversial Terrorism Prevention Act passed in Parliament, a target it says it must meet to avoid being censured by the United Nations (UN) as ill-prepared to deal with the global threat of terrorism.
In what he described as an effort to stimulate discussion on the Bill and the issues surrounding its implementation, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson met yesterday with representatives of the private sector to outline the basis on which the bill has been put forward.
"There is no hidden agenda in this Terrorism Bill. We have to protect our national interest and we have to fulfil our international obligations because we are a respected member of the international community," Mr. Patterson said from Jamaica House where he chaired the high level meeting.
The private sector representatives had few comments on the bill during the session, and mostly listened to the PM's speech. The Prime Minister had hurriedly called them to the meeting, he said, to start the dialogue on the bill before he left the island on business.
Mr. Patterson noted that a report to the UN on Jamaica's progress in the fight against terrorism is due in April of next year, making it imperative that the Terrorism Prevention Act be passed by the end of the current legislative year, which runs for another four months.
"We cannot allow ourselves to be relegated to the category of pariahs and be deprived of the contact for investment, trade and economic growth which are the lifeline for the development of our country," the PM said.
ANALYSIS
Flanked by Government ministers, the Prime Minister made note of a recent World Market Research Centre analysis of the industries most at risk of being targeted by terrorists. The analysis indicated that the tourism and leisure industry was the most in danger, while energy extraction; financial services; telecommunications and information and media were also under threat.
Mr. Patterson assured those present that the Terrorism Prevention Act was not intended to "curtail in any way the fundamental rights" of Jamaican citizens.
"At the international level, there is an arm of the United Nations which is making sure that no country, under the guise of counter-terrorism legislation, also passes legislation which is an abuse of international human rights or denies persons of those rights which are regarded as fundamental and appropriate in a free and democratic society," he said.
