VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKG #0702/01 2171909
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041909Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6628

UNCLAS KINGSTON 000702 
 
STATE FOR INL/LP NBozzolo, KBrown, INL/C WHA/CAR KHarne 
USAID for DAA/LAC TCornick 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: SNAR AFIN PREL ASEC SOCI KCOR KCRM JM XL
 
SUBJECT: Jamaica: PM Golding concerned Justice System will Collapse 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Prime Minister Bruce Golding, was briefed on a 
USAID-sponsored assessment of the impact of Corruption in Jamaica on 
July 29.   Golding has asked for a follow on meeting in three weeks 
with principal stakeholders, namely Customs, Police, Finance, 
National Security, Attorney and Solicitor Generals to examine the 
specific areas of concern identified by the USAID-sponsored final 
report.  In the interim, Post's Expanded Law Enforcement Working 
Group will meet to review and discuss the recommendations of the 
USAID-sponsored corruption assessment with a view to presenting 
potential areas for providing USG assistance to the GOJ and its 
efforts to fight crime and corruption.  End Summary. 
 
Background 
 
¶2. (SBU) The USAID-sponsored corruption assessment provided the 
Ambassador, DCM and Expanded Law Enforcement Working Group (DEA, 
ICE, NAS, P/E, RSO, and USMS) with an interim briefing of its 
findings on July 9. Based on her view that it was critical for our 
international partners to also have the benefit of the team's 
conclusions, Ambassador Johnson arranged a similar briefing with the 
UK and Canadian High Commissioners.  While it is well known that 
corruption is a problem at all levels in Jamaican Society, we were 
collectively troubled enough with the team's conclusions and their 
sense that something BIG needs to happen soon or the current 
government will lose public support, that Ambassador Johnson 
arranged a follow on meeting with Prime Minister Golding on July 29. 
 USAID Acting Mission Director and NAS Director participated in the 
assessment de-brief with the Prime Minister. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The USAID-sponsored team was made of up two U.S. members of 
Management Systems International (MSI), and one Jamaican partner, 
Dr. Trevor Munroe, former Senator and well-respected Professor at 
the University of the West Indies.  The team met with a broad range 
of stakeholders, including key Cabinet members (Security, Justice, 
Finance), as well as the Commissioners of Customs and Police, the 
Chief Justice, Director of the Office of Public Prosecution (DPP) 
and Civil Society. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The following is a list of some broad conclusions that they 
shared with the Prime Minister: 
 
-- for the first time Jamaica has a handful of key people in 
positions of power to do something about corruption (Commissioners 
of Customs, Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police for 
Anti-Corruption, DPP, Chief Justice, Ministers of Finance, Justice 
and National Security). The PM supported the recommendation from 
USAID's Anti-Corruption assessment team to convene a series of 
'National Integrity Roundtable' through University of West Indies 
Center for Governance; 
 
--these key personnel understand the danger they are in if they act, 
yet, they are fearless; 
 
-- fearless as they may be, they all feel isolated, and are seeking 
political leadership from the Prime Minister; 
 
-- the public at large understands that political, large-scale 
corruption is CORRUPTION, but does not make the connection that 
their actions, such as to bribe a police  officer to get out of a 
traffic ticket,  actually are CORRUPTION, and that these numerous 
acts of petty corruption help to breed an environment where 
corruption is tolerated at all levels; 
 
--a need for public engagement on corruption (not top-down media 
campaigns) but community-focused programs that people relate to and 
support; 
 
-- to not lose the confidence of the Jamaican public and the above 
key crime fighting personnel, the government has to go after the 
"Big Fish," a large business, a high-ranking police officer, a 
politician, and it cannot be politically motivated, e.g., just 
opposition members.  (Note:  In a step toward actualization of this 
conclusion, on July 31 senior Assistant Superintendent of Police 
Harry "Bungles" Daley was arrested in a "sting" operation and 
charged with breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act; Post will 
provide further report via septel.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Prime Minister Golding was very receptive to the comments 
made by the team.  He admitted that the weakest link for the whole 
country is its justice system -"Our criminal justice system is in 
danger of collapsing."  He is deeply aware of the problems his 
government faces with corruption and shared anecdotes about his own 
personal interventions over the last nine months of his tenure as 
Prime Minister:  direct intervention to prevent corruption in 
contracting; counseling of party members regarding public 
corruption; and, having to get personally involved in witness 
protection cases to gain agreement from the witness to testify. 
¶6. (SBU) He also outlined some of the hurdles that the government 
continues to face. One example Golding cited had to do with 
corruption in public contracts.  In 2007, Golding's government 
tightened up the issuance of public contracts to prevent past 
practices of the granting of contracts to criminal dons.  Golding 
told the team about one contract for USD $12-15 million that was let 
through a properly run competitive process.  However, in classic 
mafia style, on the contractor's first day on the job, the local Don 
showed up to explain "how things really work in Jamaica, and 
replaced the contractor with his people."  The contractor decided 
that it was not worth his life or the future of his business to 
protest and so he simply privately sub-contracted all the work to 
the Don, retaining all the liability for himself. The sub-contract 
went "unnoticed," until Golding himself visited the job site and saw 
"familiar faces" among the workers and started asking questions. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Golding was engaged during the presentation and interrupted 
the team members throughout peppering them with questions and 
interjecting anecdotes of his own, he clearly knows of all the 
problems outlined.  His comments and many questions were focused on 
finding short-term politically viable solutions.  He has requested a 
follow-up meeting with the Attorney General and Solicitor General to 
discuss constitutional ways in which the Government of Jamaica can 
unshackle its law enforcement and prosecutorial staff to better 
fight crime and corruption.  NAS will work closely with USAID to 
prepare concrete proposals for this follow-on meeting. 
 
 
JOHNSON