Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Government moving to sign CARICOM Agreement on Sharing of Recovered Assets
Montego Bay, September 24, 2019 – Jamaica – The Government is moving to sign the CARICOM Agreement on the Sharing of Recovered Assets, which is intended to strengthen regional cooperation in this area by establishing a framework for the return or sharing of illicitly acquired proceeds that have been confiscated.
Chief Technical Director (CTD) in the Ministry, Rohan Richards, said the Agreement will also facilitate the provision of assistance to victims of money laundering and increased financing for regional security institutions. He was speaking during the recent Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of the Caribbean (ARIN-CARIB) Annual General Meeting at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in St. James.
Jamaica’s signing of the regional agreement is expected to complement legislation that Mr. Richards said the Ministry is pursuing to implement an asset recovery incentivisation scheme.
“This scheme will allow those agencies that work to combat money laundering to be able to utilise a portion of the funds recovered in order to improve their capacity and operational effectiveness,” he explained.
The CTD said this is expected to go a far way in enabling agencies, such as the Financial Investigations Division (FID), “to successfully pursue more criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act”.
Meanwhile, Mr. Richards said the Ministry will be seeking to introduce legislation to address illegally acquired finances and assets. This, he indicated, will target persons in possession of assets deemed disproportionate to their financial standing, who are unable to reasonably explain the source of such gains.
“The introduction of these provisions will signal to criminals and facilitators of criminal activity that the Government of Jamaica is serious about taking away illicitly acquired wealth,” the CTD pointed out.
Additionally, Mr. Richards said it is expected that these measures will be a “significant deterrent to criminal activity, as there is a greater risk of losing the wealth criminals would have gained through illicit enrichment”.
Representatives from more than 25 member countries attended the two-day ARIN-CARIB conference, which featured presentations on several topics. These included ‘Gold Smuggling Typologies’; ‘Best Practices in the Seizure of Cryptocurrencies’; and ‘Unexplained Wealth Orders’.
Mr. Richards said organisations such as ARIN provide a platform for stakeholder dialogue on matters encountered by financial investigators, members of the judiciary, prosecutors, and lawmakers alike.
The forum, he added, enables law-enforcement officers to “remain ahead of the curve on matters that are current and allow for the development of appropriate counter-measures to limit the actions of criminals”.
The ARIN networks are globally recognised as a judicial and law-enforcement tool used in targeting persons involved in organised crime, with particular focus on financial and asset deprivation.
There are eight ARIN networks currently in operation around the world.
Contact: Garwin Davis
Release: JIS
Photo Captions:
Header: Representatives from 25 member countries who attended the recent Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of the Caribbean (ARIN-CARIB) Annual General Meeting at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in St. James.
Insert:Chief Technical Director in the Ministry of National Security, Rohan Richards, speaking at the recent Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of the Caribbean (ARIN-CARIB) Annual General Meeting at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in St. James.
Photos – Garwin Davis
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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