Edmond Campbell, News Coordinator

The United States Government has sharply criticised Jamaican authorities for their inability to prosecute high-ranking government officials who are involved in corruption.

In its International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2007, released Thursday on the U.S. State Department website, Jamaica was criticised for its failure to effectively tackle the problem of corruption.

Narcotics/political link

The report noted that National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, in a statement last year, warned of the dangers of the narcotics/political link within Jamaica and pledged the Government's full support to combat corruption.

However, despite this commitment, the report said: "There were no prosecutions of high-level officials for corruption in the last 12 months".

"To prevent Jamaica from becoming a full-fledged 'kleptocracy', the Government of Jamaica must investigate, prosecute and convict corrupt officials at all levels of government service," the report stated.

While lauding the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) on achieving a 16 per cent reduction in crime last year, the report contended that the Government however, seemed unable to move with equal efficiency against official corruption.

The report also revealed that a US-Government-funded polygraph or lie detector test carried out on members of the JCF, immigration and customs officers "starkly illuminated the pervasive nature of corruption, which continues to undermine efforts against drug-related and other crimes, plays a major role in the safe passage of drugs and drug proceeds through Jamaica and remains a major barrier to improve counter narcotics efforts".

Major transit point

Jamaica, according to the Narcotics Strategy Control Report, is a major transit point for cocaine destined for the United States and is the Caribbean's largest producer and exporter of marijuana.

Highlighting the Jamaican government's success at denting the narcotics trade, the report noted that, during 2006, the Government seized narcotics bound for the US, arrested key traffickers and dismantled their organisations.

Turning to the legislative framework, the report pointed to the Government's efforts to pass the Proceeds of Crime Act, a bill that was approved by the Senate last week.

With the passage of this legislation, the US Government said it would intensify the capacity building of the Financial Investigation Division (FID), the agency with special investigative capability to probe money laundering and recover assets from the proceeds of crime.

Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Gilbert Scott, said he was studying the report and would issue a response at a later date.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com