Pickersgill

A THREE-member team from the National Public Prosecutor's Office in The Netherlands is scheduled to start investigations into the 2006 Trafigura affair when they interview Prime Minister Bruce Golding today.

Andrew Clunis, director of communications in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, told The Gleaner that the Dutch arrived here Monday evening. The team is led by Roel De Kruif.

Yesterday, its members met with Director of Public Prosecutions Kent Pantry. They are also expected to interview chairman of the People's National Party (PNP) Robert Pickersgill, and Colin Campbell, a senior member of the party.

Resigned posts

Campbell was the party's general secretary and the Information Minister when the affair broke in October 2006. He resigned his posts three days after then Opposition Leader Golding disclosed that Trafigura Beheer - a Dutch company that traded crude from Nigeria on behalf of the Jamaica Government - had made a €466,000 (J$30 million) contribution to the PNP.

The funds were transferred to two bank accounts linked to Campbell.

Last November, Golding told Parliament that the Dutch government was investigating whether Trafigura Beheer had attempted to bribe Jamaican government officials.

He said they were given permission to travel to Jamaica and question persons who might have knowledge of any impropriety.

At a press conference one day after Golding's revelation 15 months ago, Pickersgill said there was nothing untoward about the transfer. He said the money was meant to shore up its election campaign. However, administrators at Trafigura denied this, saying the money was to be used for "commercial purposes".