The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce says it is disappointed with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's presentation in Parliament on Tuesday in response to the censure motion brought against the Government for its involvement in the Trafigura Beheer scandal.

Mrs. Simpson Miller on Tuesday rejected accusations by the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party which brought the motion on the grounds that the transaction was immoral. Mrs. Simpson Miller spun the accusation around and instead lambasted the Opposition for breaching banking confidentiality laws and using the incident to overshadow a censure motion brought against Opposition member Karl Samuda.

" The JCC wishes to register its fundamental disappointment in the Prime Minister's parliamentary presentation on the Trafigura affair," the chamber said in a press statement yesterday. "We had hoped that full disclosure would have been made in a manner which conclusively answered the numerous questions which have been raised by various individuals, interest groups and organisations, none more important than the other."

The statement continued: "Further, we had hoped that the Prime Minister would have acted decisively to dispel the perception of a 'culture of corruption.'"

The JCC also stated its disappointment in the lack of representation from both political parties at a meeting with the Electoral Advisory Committee and other stakeholders to agree on measures for campaign financing.

"If our political parties are not to be regarded as merely 'blowing smoke,' they should willingly participate in this process," they said.

The chamber says good governance should not only be guided by the rule of law but also the principle of transparency and truth. It says service to Jamaicans should be the first duty of all elected officials.