NOTES ON MEETING HELD ON
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
BETWEEN THE RIGHT HONOURABLE PRIME
MINISTER AND THE HONOURABLE LLOYD AXWORTHY,
FOREIGN .MINISTER OF CANADA
The Right Honourable Prime Minister, in opening the meeting, expressed
his appreciation of the support which Canada gave, both bilaterally as
well as regionally. He added that the meeting in Grenada with the
Canadian Prime Minister went successfully.
Speaking of Jamaica, he said there were two areas where there was the
greatest need for Canadian assistance. The first related to the matter of
crime and security. It had been discussed with the Canadian Prime
Minister, and the Minister of National Security on his recent visit to
Canada had also raised the matter. Canada had the expertise and
equipment in the area of weapon detection capability and Jamaica was
interested in this.
There was a proliferation of weapons in certain areas of Jamaica and the
Government wanted to be able, when it sent the Security Forces into
these areas, to be able to detect these weapons. This would not be an
ongoing programme but an entirely new programme. The Programme
would assist Canada as some of those with weapons in Jamaica had
association with drug dealers and had connections in Canada.
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t ., 2
The other area where assistance was needed was in the area of Human
Resources Development. In this new age of technological advancement
there was need for scholarships at the tertiary level and at postgraduate
institutions. Scholarships in certain areas relating to Science and
Technology would be appreciated. The support could also include
technical training.
Minister Axworthy said that at his meeting with Minister Mullings he
spoke of the need to review the current technical cooperation
programme, to retool or to refresh it.
RHPM said he hoped that nothing he said before was meant to imply
that Jamaica was not interested in other areas, such as trade
liberalisation and expansion. It was just that the two areas he
mentioned were of priority importance.
The Canadian Ambassador enquired as to who should the Canadians
talk with about the requests.
RHPM said that Minister Knight when he visited Canada had put
Government's request concerning weapons' detection in writing and
therefore the details were known to the Canadian Government.
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3
Minister Axworthy said he would see what could be done and he would
like to see the proposal on his desk as soon as possible.
After an exchange of pleasantries the meeting ended.
Richard Pierce
Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the United Nations
New York, 1997 September 26
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