Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator

GOLDING

Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, disclosing that the Netherlands government has initiated investigations into the Trafigura Beheer fiasco, said yesterday that the Jamaican Government could be embroiled in a major international controversy over the matter, with Attorney-General, A.J. Nicholson facing a likely conflict of interest.

Speaking yesterday at a press conference called by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) at its Belmont Road headquarters in St. Andrew, Mr. Golding said the Attorney-General would find himself in an awkward position in his capacity as both senior government legal officer and legal adviser to the People's National Party (PNP).

According to Mr. Golding, the Attorney-General would have to protect the country's interest from a legal point of view, while he would also be "obliged to protect the PNP interest" as senior legal adviser to the party.

"Is a lawyer who behaves in that way competent to direct the legal affairs of the country? Why have we not heard of Mr. Nicholson's resignation?" The Opposition Leader questioned.

However, Mr. Nicholson, in a statement yesterday, apologised to Jamaicans for his remarks, made last week at a PNP press conference, stating that he should have apprised himself of information from Trafigura before making a public comment.

Since news broke little more than a week ago about the Dutch trading oil company's $31 million 'donation' to the PNP, the Portia Simpson Miller-led administration has been bombarded with questions, which it has eluded in the last few days.

The funds received by the party, which Mrs. Simpson Miller promised to return to the company, were initially said to be a 'gift' from Trafigura, but in a statement on the issue, the company said the money represented a commercial transaction with CCOC Associates, an account linked to the PNP and its former general secretary, Colin Campbell.

More questions raised

Mr. Golding said the PM's plans to return the money to Trafigura raises more questions. He asked how the PNP could return money to the company when "as far as Trafigura is concerned, that money did not belong to them in the first place?"

The $31 million was lodged to the CCOC Associates account then deposited into an account called SW Services (Team Jamaica) on which senior party officials were listed as signatories.

Meanwhile, Mr. Golding is insisting that a senior Government minister was listed as an officer of SW Services (Team Jamaica), indicating that he was ready to challenge any legal action for his pronouncements on the matter.

Turning to the invoice mentioned by Trafigura in its statement, Mr. Golding has called on the Prime Minister to make public the document, which sets out the type of transaction conducted between Trafigura and CCOC Associates.

"We are demanding that the Prime Minister instruct that a copy of that invoice be made available to the public so that we can make more headway in getting to the bottom of this," he said.

The Opposition Leader also claimed that senior Government officials met in August with President of Trafigura, Claude Dauphin, who is currently in custody in Abidjan, facing charges relating to poisoning and violations of toxic waste laws.

According to Golding, prior to Dauphin's arrest in September, he visited Jamaica on August 23, the same date that appeared on the invoice referenced in the transmission document from Trafigura.

The Opposition Leader insisted that he held a meeting with "Government officials at the highest level," highlighting that no official from the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica had been in attendance. This, he said, was a clear indication that the discussions that took place had nothing to do with Trafigura's performance of its contract to lift and trade oil from Nigeria on Jamaica's behalf.

Mr. Golding further queried: "Who attended that meeting with Mr. Dauphin? Was the Prime Minister in that meeting? Was Mr. (Robert) Pickersgill in that meeting? Were arrangements worked out at that meeting for contributions to be made to the PNP, and what were those arrangements?