THE DISCLOSURE that Jamaica owes Iraq over J$1 billion raises interesting questions related to the war which has left the Middle East nation without a government.
As we reported yesterday the debt is documented in the Ministry of Finance's Financial Statements and Revenue Estimates 2003/04 showing that US$14 million is owing on the South Manchester Alumina Plant Project and another US$5.5 million for balance of payments financing. Converted to local currency this means that J$1.13 billion is outstanding on the loan.
According to the Jamaica Bauxite Institute the project was conceived during the Michael Manley administration of the 1970s to build an alumina refinery here, but it has never got off the ground.
No payments have been made on the debt for about a decade because of United Nations sanctions against Iraq in the wake of Gulf War 1. The presumption is that Jamaica would resume payments if the UN sanctions are lifted. But other questions would then arise.
In the wake of the ouster of the Saddam Hussein regime by the American-led coalition forces there is now no de facto government administration in place. The chaos which has followed the actual fighting and fall of Baghdad is only now mutating toward some semblance of a restoration of civil facilities to ward off humanitarian disaster.
We are not aware of what the legal implications dictate in these circumstances. In the immediate aftermath of the regime ouster some observers indicated that under the Geneva Convention the victors had the responsibility to restore and maintain order.
But whether that extends to assuming financial control at this stage is a matter for experts in international law. Since the debt remains on the books of the Ministry we think some clear statement should be made on the matter.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
