NEW YORK, USA — The sharp tension has eased between the Government and a section of the Jamaican Diaspora, which threatened to mar June’s summit-like Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) biennial conference, following closed-door discussions between the parties.

Attorney Wilfred Rattigan, one of the main protagonists for the dissident Diaspora group, said a “positive” meeting has been held with a government official whose name he was not authorised to disclose to the Jamaica Observer.

Rattigan, a former Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) special agent, said that out of the discussion which was initiated by the United States-based Jamaican Government official, “a common understanding emerged between both sides and that we are all interested in one goal which is working for the good of Jamaica”.

Follow-up meetings will be held in the near future to iron out remaining glitches, said the outspoken Rattigan, who continued to insist that the Government stop ignoring Diaspora calls for more engagement on thorny issues like corruption, crime, health and education in Jamaica.

The dispute threatened to upend the 10th Biennial Conference of the GJDC set for June 16-19 in the north coast resort city of Montego Bay, St James, after a duelling group of Jamaicans formally registered itself by a similar domain name in the US.

The Jamaican Foreign Ministry has been organising the biennial conference under the name Global Jamaica Diaspora Council.

Some in the group want the conference boycotted entirely while others prefer to stage an online gathering at the same time as the meeting was unfolding in the Montego Bay Conference Centre, insiders told the Observer.

Striking back, the ministry threatened legal action and expressed “grave concern” over distribution of promotional material bearing a striking resemblance to the ministry’s official communication for this conference”.

It accused those responsible of clearly intending “to sow confusion and mislead members of the Diaspora”, saying: “This purported parallel Diaspora conference is in no way associated with the ministry, and has been organised without any consultation or endorsement from the ministry or the legacy partners or sponsors associated with Diaspora engagement.”

The dispute opened sharp divisions between the Government and the Diaspora faction, with neutral Jamaicans urging the parties to the discussion table, arguing that Jamaica was being embarrassed.

Among those pushing for dialogue between the parties is the highly respected Ambassador Curtis Ward, who noted that “many of the sentiments which have been expressed by this new group, have been and are being expressed by a vast amount of people in the Diaspora, even though there are contending views and differences of opinions”.

“Neither side — the Government nor the group – is likely to have the full support of the Diaspora, which is more reason for dialogue to take place…People are in fact asking why there is no attempt at dialogue,” he said.

Suggesting that the burden of initiating dialogue rested on the Government which had the resources, Ward labelled as a mistake a reference by the foreign ministry to the faction as “a fringe group”.

“This dialogue is needed, because from the very beginning the structure of the Diaspora was flawed,” he added. “It is my hope that this much needed dialogue will take place soon, as it is in the interest of all that the country and the Diaspora operate in harmony.”

Rattigan noted that the newly minted Global Jamaica Diaspora Council was not only interested in working to improve conditions in Jamaica, but to assist Jamaicans in the Diaspora, some of whom are also facing challenges.

In reiterating the willingness to continue meeting with the Government, he added that the group would only come to the table “as willing, collaborative partners working to solve problems and not as subordinates”.