The Jamaican Government is yet to respond to a scathing rebuke by a British parliamentarian who criticized the island’s rejection of a US$30.5 million offer from the United Kingdom government to construct a new prison.
The member of the British Conservative Party, labeled Jamaica’s decision a “complete disgrace” and proposed that Jamaican nationals in UK jails be immediately deported or the Andrew Holness Government foot the bill to maintain their upkeep in British jails. Jamaica’s Foreign Minister announced in January that the Government had turned down the offer because it was not in the island’s best interest. He explained that Britain had more to gain because the move would save that country US$12.2 million a year. The money which the UK was offering would only have been 40 per cent of the cost of the prison, and the Jamaica government would have had to source the rest of the funds. A known condition of the deal was the transfer of 300 Jamaican prisoners to their homeland to complete their sentences.