FORMER Cabinet minister and member of parliament Colin Campbell has redoubled his energies and is again focused on contesting the North Central Clarendon seat for the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) in the general election due by 2012.

However, Campbell, 56, will have to contend with the ghost of the Trafigura Affair and a party which sees him as a stumbling block in its bid to regain State power following its defeat at the polls in 2007.

On August 23 Contractor General Greg Christie complained to Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewelyn that the experienced politician had failed to co-operate during the probe by his office to unearth information on the Trafigura deal. He wanted Campbell punished for obstructing and hindering the investigations.

But on Friday, citing the four years between the time the alleged offence was committed, and the date the matter was referred to her, the DPP said that she would neither refer the matter to the police nor initiate any prosecution in the stated matter. She said the matter was a summary offence for which the maximum penalty is $5,000.

The issue stems from the PNP's decision to accept a $31 million gift from Trafigura Beheer, the Dutch oil trading firm which had an agreement to lift Nigerian crude on behalf of Jamaica under the PNP administration. The money was deposited to a special account called CCOC, which it later emerged, meant Colin Campbell Our Candidate.

A year before the election, Campbell resigned as minister of information and development and as party general secretary.

He now sees the latest move by the DPP as a good thing that will allow him to continue his work within the party and ultimately to serve the people of North Central Clarendon, who are now represented in Parliament by 74-year-old veteran Pearnel Charles, the minister of labour and social security.

"I have heard about the ruling, but I have not seen it yet. My lawyer and I plan to look at it in the coming week and issue a statement after," Campbell said in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

"I said before that I would be awaiting a ruling by the DPP and if I were cleared then I would be continuing my work to become the PNP's candidate in North Central Clarendon. I will write to the party by Monday to outline that," Campbell said.

PNP chairman Robert Pickersgill stated in August that while there were some in the party who were opposed to Campbell representing the organisation, the party had not made a determination on the matter.

Yesterday, he acknowledged the DPP's ruling and wished Campbell well in his quest to become MP again.

"Before this happened, his pursuit of candidature was put on hold. I don't know what his intentions are and I don't know what will happen when he faces the Integrity Commission," Pickersgill said.

That Integrity Commission was recently established by the PNP to screen candidates, including incumbents, who had a desire to represent the party in elections. It has already raised questions about five prospective candidates, including one recently selected, the Sunday Observer has learnt.

There is a view among party stalwarts that the stigma of Trafigura could hurt the party's chances as the ruling Jamaica Labour Party could use it as fodder in its campaign, but Campbell is not put off by this.

"I don't know whether that is so. We have systems in the party to deal with these matters," he said.

In the meantime, the former two-term MP for Eastern St Andrew who rose up the political ranks by beating JLP shining lights Ed Bartlett in 1993 and Dr Percy Broderick in 1997, thinks that his chances of excelling in North Central Clarendon should not be discounted.

"It's going very well. I am on my way down there right now. It's going to be the best organised constituency in Jamaica. "We just came out of a series of enumeration exercises and things are looking good. I understand that a poll was done by the JLP recently, which showed that there had been a big swing to the PNP. The work on the ground is continuing and I remain in high spirits," said Campbell, who had remained as the constituency's vice chairman during the period of review by the DPP.

Another party official told the Sunday Observer that the party needed to meet urgently to address the matter in light of lingering doubts surrounding Campbell's suitability from a strategic perspective.

"There are those who think that his presence on the slate might not be as helpful as Colin thinks," the official said.

Llewellyn in her statement to the media on Friday said that Campbell did not answer eight of 10 questions raised by the contractor general office.

"He has, on the face of the legislation, obstructed and hindered the contractor general in the execution of his functions in relation to this investigation," Llewellyn stated.

However, Llewellyn said that there was no material from the Dutch Government or Trafigura Beheer itself that Campbell was trying to cover up anything, or his view that the monetary gift was not connected to the Nigerian oil-lifting agreement did not have merit.