OPPOSITION Leader Bruce Golding yesterday accused the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) of financing its recent annual conference from a $31-million largesse provided by an overseas oil trader, and called for the immediate resignation of the entire government.

“In the name of the Jamaican people, I call for the resignation of the entire government,” Golding told a hurriedly arranged press conference, after his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) MPs walked out of the House of Representatives during the debate on a censure motion brought against the party’s general secretary Karl Samuda.

“Madam Prime Minister, it is necessary now for you to advise the governor-general to issue a proclamation to dissolve this Parliament, so that elections can be held forthwith and so that the people of Jamaica can elect a government that is worthy of their trust,” Golding added.

Last night, Phillip Paulwell, the industry, technology, commerce and energy minister, denied the allegations made by Golding, and threatened to take legal action against the opposition leader.

“I have instructed my attorneys to take immediate action against the opposition leader,” said Paulwell.

He added that he would be vigorously defending himself in the public arena as well as through the courts.

Golding, when asked by the Observer yesterday whether the JLP would stay out of Parliament until an election is called, responded: “Let’s wait and see what position the Government takes.

No government ought to stay in office after this sort of skulduggery.”

Golding, describing the revelation as “the mother of all scandals”, said that the persons allegedly involved were all members of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s presidential campaign team. He also produced copies of the front and backs of three cheques for $30.4 million which were transacted with First Caribbean International Bank, Newport West branch.

The opposition leader also raised questions about the use of PetroCaribe Funds which, he said, were “locked in secrecy”, and reiterated the JLP’s demands that these funds should be brought under parliamentary scrutiny.

At the press briefing held in the Opposition’s meeting room at Gordon House, Golding read to the press part two of his presentation on the censure motion which he was unable to deliver in the House due to objections from the Government side and the rulings of the speaker.

According to Golding, between September 6 and 12, just prior to the PNP’s annual conference, Trafigura, a Dutch-based oil dealer, transferred £460,000 – over J$31 million – from their account in Amsterdam, to an account in Jamaica known as “CCOC Association”. The address provided by CCOC Association was “c/o Portmore Gas, Bridgeport, St Catherine.” He said that one of the signatories to the transaction was a “Colin Campbell”.

“Shortly after these funds were received into the account, two cheques totalling J$30 million were issued, both bear the signature of Colin Campbell. The signatories on that account (SW Services – Team Jamaica) are also interesting. They are Prakash Vaswani, Colin Campbell, Phillip Paulwell and Delano Barnett,” Golding said.

“A third cheque drawn on the account of CCOC Association for J$465,000 was made payable to Colin Campbell.

This cheque also bears the signature of Colin Campbell. Mr Campbell, in effect, drew a cheque payable to himself,” he added.

“What does Trafigura have to do with CCOC Association? What does Trafigura have to do with Colin Campbell? And what does CCOC Association have to do with SW Services (Team Jamaica)? Is Minister Paulwell not the person who has responsibility for the Nigerian oil transactions? What on earth is going on here? And who is Team Jamaica?” he asked.

Paulwell, however, denied he was a signatory to SW Services, said to have Nigerian oil connections. “I absolutely refute that I am a signatory to any such company,” Paulwell said in a statement.

Golding said that for sometime now his party had been concerned about transactions involving the purchase and sale of oil from Nigeria which has been traded by Trafigura Beheer, and the fact that there has been no independent audit of the transactions.

He pointed out that Trafigura is a relatively new company (formed in 1993) that has had a very eventful record. These include being indicted in the United States in the Iraq Oil-for-Food scandal, in which it pleaded guilty and was fined US$8 million and ordered to forfeit US$9.9 million of oil shipments seized in the Caribbean in 2001.

In addition, he said, approximately one month ago, Trafigura was implicated in the dumping of toxic waste on the streets of Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast, in which eight people died and thousands had to seek medical attention. This led to the resignation of the entire Cabinet.

The Jamaican Government, in March 2001, announced that the state-owned Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) had contracted Trafigura to handle its shipment and sale of crude on world oil markets, under a 30,000 barrel-a-day concession with Nigeria. Under that 12-month arrangement, Jamaica was to have earned J$3.1 million per month.

It was said at the time that Nigerian crude was incompatible with the PCJ’s Petrojam refinery and would be uneconomical for it to be shipped to Kingston for processing.