Bridgewater committed to stamping out corruption

HOURS AFTER presenting her credentials to Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, new United States ambassador to Jamaica, Pamela Bridgewater, served notice that her history of fighting corruption in other countries will not change while she is assigned here.

Bridgewater, who presented her credentials to Sir Patrick at King's House yesterday, commended Jamaica's improvement on the Corruption Perception Index, but made it clear that she has "always been a very strong proponent of working to fight corruption.

"I have a history of that in other countries that I have worked in, so Jamaica will be no different," she warned during her first press conference at the US Embassy in St Andrew yesterday.

Bridgewater was careful not to point any fingers, but said citizens wanted to have government and private entities that were sound, efficient and functional.

"(However) that would diminish what can be gotten for people... if things are ill-gotten, clearly that is something I don't think any Jamaican would want," she said.

Other issues high on her agenda, Bridgewater said, were the strengthening of bilateral relationships, trade and investment, as well as safety and security.

Interested investors

The ambassador said that prior to her arrival in Jamaica, she met with several business interests in New York who had expressed "considerable" interest in and goodwill towards Jamaica.

"What I would hope is that on this side here in Jamaica, it would be just as welcoming in terms of investors and having an enabling environment that will pique the interest and make the investors want to come," she said.

Bridgewater said that over the years, Jamaica and the US had worked on issues such as counternarcotics to combat transnational crimes, particularly money laundering and drug trafficking, and with the newly arranged Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, those efforts would be expanded with additional support.

"I am convinced that our bilateral relationships in working on counternarcotics, for example, will continue to stem the flow of illegal drugs entering and leaving Jamaica," she added.

Bridgewater said she felt "very fortunate" to come to a country that had established strong relations with the US, but promised that she also wanted to use the time not just for talk with members of the Government but with all sectors of society.