Roundup: British PM announces fund for Caribbean, shuns slavery reparation on Jamaica visit

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced an aid package for the Caribbean during his first official visit to Jamaica, but the effort was overshadowed by regional calls for London to make reparation for slavery.

Addressing the Jamaican parliament on Wednesday, Cameron praised the strong link between Britain and the Caribbean and announced a 300-million-pound (456 million U.S. dollars) aid funding on infrastructure projects across the region, including roads, bridges and ports.

However, his trip to the Caribbean island, the first for 14 years as a sitting Britain prime minister, has been upstaged by the issue of slavery reparation.

SLAVERY REPARATION

Jamaican Prime Minister Simpson Miller raised the issue of slavery reparation in talks with Cameron on Tuesday evening, hours after greeting him at the airport.

While being aware of "obvious sensitivities," Miller indicted that "Jamaica is involved in a process under the auspices of the Caribbean Community, to engage the UK, on the matter."

Instead of directly addressing the issue, Cameron replied that his visit focused on reinvigorating the relationship between Britain and the Caribbean countries, and he wanted to concentrate on future, not historical wrongs.

However, in a speech before Jamaican parliament, the British government leader acknowledged that it would be wrong to ignore the most painful aspects of the past, "a period which should never be forgotten, and from which history has drawn the bitterest of lessons".

"Slavery was and is abhorrent in all its forms. It has no place whatsoever in any civilized society," Cameron said, "I acknowledge that these wounds run very deep indeed."

Believing "the Caribbean has emerged from the long, dark shadow it cast", Cameron expressed the hope that they can "move on from this painful legacy and continue to build for the future".

The regional bloc Caribbean Community (CARICOM), representing its 15 member countries and dependencies, has been demanding apology and reparation since 2013 from the former colonial powers, namely Britain, France and the Netherlands for slavery trade and genocide of native people.

In an open letter to Cameron, Hilary Beckles, chairman of the CARICOM Reparation Commission said that reparation was "not an issue that can be further ignored, remain under the rug, or placed on back burners".

Jamaican parliament member Mike Henry even urged his colleagues to turn their backs on Cameron unless the issue of reparation was placed on the agenda for his visit.

25 MILLION POUND PRISON GIFT

Prime minister Cameron on Tuesday also announced that Britain will provide funds to help Jamaica build a new prison, which immediately sparks heated debate across the island.

Jamaica and Britain were involved in negotiations for years over the prisoner transfer agreement, which would allow Jamaicans imprisoned in Britain to return home to complete their sentences, and their sticking point had been the poor conditions of the existing prisons in Jamaica.

Just as Cameron started his visit here, the British government issued a statement that the agreement was concluded and Britain will provide 25 million pounds (38 million U.S. dollars) for the new 1500 bed prison in Jamaica.

More than 600 Jamaicans are now in British jails, making Jamaicans the third largest group of foreign offenders in Britain, and the new deal is expected to save Britain 10 million pounds (15.2 million U.S. dollars) a year when transfers begin in 2020.

However, in response to the prison gift, Jamaican opposition leader Andrew Holness said that he would rather have the building of schools than prisons.

"The key lesson here is educating our people particularly in skills, which is the best way to spur human development to support a growth agenda and to keep the poor and dispossessed out of prison," he said.

The People's National Party Youth Organization also urged the Jamaican government to reject the offer, saying that the Britain authority is to transfer responsibility to Jamaica and the Jamaican taxpayers.

The organization indicated that the proposed 25 million pounds represents only 40 percent of the projected cost of the prison, and the government and people of Jamaica have to pay the additional 60 percent.

Even if the Britain was willing to provide the full cost for the construction, the Jamaican government should still reject the proposal as the maintenance cost would still be exorbitant, the organization said. Endi