Jovan Johnson, Parliamentary Reporter
The Andrew Holness administration has rejected the $5.5 billion offer of the United Kingdom (UK) to help build a modern prison in Jamaica.
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith made the announcement in the Senate this morning, ending almost six months of wait for the answer.
She said the terms of the offer “were not beneficial to Jamaica as a whole.” She did not state exactly the unfavourable terms.
She also declined to answer questions from Opposition Senator Lambert Brown, who tabled the questions on whether negotiations are underway to get favourable terms.
“The matter is closed at this time,” she said.
Leader of Opposition Business Mark Golding also could not get an answer on when the offer was rejected.
Johnson Smith said the questions, among others, were not appropriate and cited national security concerns.
However, she said the questions could be sent to the security ministry.
“Transparency, where is it?” Brown fired at the Government side. Johnson Smith later accused the Opposition of “grandstanding”.
The issue is sensitive for the prime minister because, while leading the opposition last year, he told then British Prime Minister David Cameron, who announced the deal, that the money would be better spent on education.
A known condition of the deal included Jamaica accepting about 300 British prisoners of Jamaican heritage to complete their sentence here. The UK’s $5.5 billion for the 1,500-bed facility would only be 40 per cent of the cost. Jamaica would have to find the rest.
Public Defender Arlene Harrison-Henry has said current prison conditions are below minimum constitutional requirements
Mi second dis move….mi need Andrew fi ask dem if dem willing fi gi wi some a di money anyway! We can use it and do suptn else!
PNP did di wrong move a let in England wid open arms when dem come talk seh dem want build prison! I was disappointed in dem!
gooooood make dem move dem bumbo
good move Andrew but if the UK want to deport these prisoner to Jamaica what is there to stop them? JAMAICA has no room to tell the uk shit ,Jamaica has to follow orders ,so at the end of the day if the UK wants the prison in Jamaica they will get it, remember they were the same one who gave us powered milk and neglected our dairy industry for their personal gains.
Jamaica is gone to the dogs .criminality ,etc is on the rise , we have sold out our island to the rest of the world,Jamaica is now only good for i thing ,this si to accommodate vacations for first world citizens ,and this may not be for long ,as the crime is exaltating beyound the control of the security forces.
Thank you they still deporting them anyway, so this is just smoke screen and mirrors.
No is reality. So what if they get deported? They won’t be serving time in a damn prison in their birth land, after being transported in cargi, in chains from bloodclattt england!
The same nation, that set their failed life in motion some hundreds of years ago…up till today date! They’ll come home unbounded, but when dem break the Island laws then incarcerating them is justified, along wid emptying shit buckets and sleeping in crowded, 100+ degree housing.
You weak back negros tend to survive by dna;evolution slow but it sure from get rid a you lot.
You and massa can go do 69! Bitch Jamaica said NO! England can’t build shit without consent.
Jamaica saw your back years ago. Say otherwise…lol it’s always telling in unnu bow dung writings.
he need to do the same honours when “orange-baffoon” start exercise him might :2thumbup
The agreement between Jamaica and UK was not a legally binding agreement in the first place. A memorandum of understanding is used in cases where parties do not imply a legal commitment. My question is, why would the UK use such a terminology if they had a genuine intention of building this prison.the only answer I can come up with is, they think the Jamaican government is made up with a bunch of uneducated fools. How disrespectful? BIG UP Johnson_ Smith if it was you who sight the play.
At the level at which violent crimes are occurring, do we have the space to accommodate these criminals for the future.
The offer is an insult as it shows that the perception of our country is defined by crime. One would expect the building of a hospital, school, or the
payout of reparations, but to offer to build a prison shows that our image is crap. We have a huge PR problem and the truth is we really also do need a proper prison. How do we maintain our pride, but also reconcile with the fact that what was offered was truly needed? Perhaps time to dig up back Renato Adams and find out his crime fighting methods cause I fear we may live to regret this refusal if we do not plan on getting crime under significant control.