PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad--Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) Minister of Foreign and Caribbean Community Caricom Affairs Dennis Moses says he has written to his Jamaican counterpart Kamina Johnson Smith, complaining in a “forceful manner” about a search reportedly carried out on Government Minister Ayanna Webster-Roy, as she boarded a flight in Jamaica last week. Moses told Parliament on Tuesday that he has also expressed concern to the Jamaican High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago based in Port of Spain, and Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner based in Kingston.
Moses told the Upper House that he “personally consulted” with a number of the members of the delegation that travelled to Jamaica to participate in the regional parliamentary forum and the High Commissioners, to get “as much factual information [as – Ed.] possible.”
“I, in a very forceful manner, made known to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jamaica our complaints, and I countered in a robust fashion whatever counterarguments would have been presented. I also consulted and made known to the High Commissioner of Jamaica, based here in Port of Spain, the nature of our complaint, and I followed it up by writing to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, in a rather pointed fashion, our concerns.”
Moses said the Ministry is working to ensure that incidents of searches being carried out on government officials travelling on diplomatic passports, be minimised.
However, responding to the incident, Johnson Smith, by way of a release, blamed a “private security company” for patting Webster-Roy as she was leaving the country, after attending the regional parliamentary forum as part of the follow-up to the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Ending AIDS last week.
Johnson Smith said, “Our initial enquiries indicate that a search took place, but that it was conducted by a private security company retained by the international airline on which the Minister and her delegation were travelling.
“Furthermore, we are advised that such searches are generally undertaken by the airline under international conventions, and are based on random computer selection for additional security screening.
“While we regret the Minister’s distress, our enquiries so far reveal that diplomats and Ministers of other countries, as well as current and former Ministers of Jamaica, across political administrations, have in fact undergone this additional screening process, notwithstanding their status.”
Johnson Smith said the Andrew Holness-led Government “is, however, taking the matter seriously.”
“Even as we await a promised formal letter from my counterpart in Trinidad and Tobago, we are making further enquiries regarding the legal framework supporting such searches, as well as the specific circumstances of Friday’s incident. We will write to the airline to make a formal request in this regard.”
Johnson Smith assured the public that the Jamaican Government wanted all visitors to Jamaica, including colleague dignitaries from foreign and Caricom countries, to be comfortable in their travel to and from Jamaica, notwithstanding any security protocols.
She said that it was important to stress that even at this stage of enquiry, it was quite clear that the search was in no way related to the issue of free movement under the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, nor was it related to the Minister’s nationality.
She urged her Trinidadian counterpart to convey her personal empathy to Webster-Roy, “for any distress caused by the airline’s security screening process.”
Last year there were allegations by Jamaicans about mistreatment and discrimination by Trinidad and Tobago immigration authorities following the deportation of a number of Jamaicans.
This matter had led to calls by some Jamaicans to boycott Trinidad and Tobago products and Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley visited that Caribbean country to assure Jamaicans that they were not being targeted. ~ Caribflame ~
