Ambassador Mazzocchi Alemanni speaks with The Gleaner at the Office of the European Union. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

Despite the worsening global financial meltdown, the European Commission (ECU) to Jamaica has given its assurance that it will not reduce its contributions to the Jamaican Govern-ment, made through its budgetary support programme.

The ECU has committed itself to provide aid to the Government through a three-year debt reduction and growth enhancement programme.

The support grant is €40 million ($4.63 billion) and will be complemented by an additional €30 million ($3.47 billion) from the Sugar Accompanying Measures financial assistance for the period 2007-2009.

The project has been designed to target public debt, macro-economics reforms and public-governance obstacles to economic growth.

However, with the financial tsunami threatening a number of countries across the globe, including several European nations, there are concerns over whether such funds will still be available in months to come.

"We are committed. For us it's a sacred contract, so we are going to fulfil that, whatever happens," Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni, head of delegation of the European Commission to Jamaica, told The Gleaner recently.

Alemanni, however, said the global recession might have an impact on the Jamaican Government's ability to hold up its end of the bargain, in terms of the measures it is expected to fulfil in order to receive support from the European body.

Costly conditions

"Some of the conditions are costly, so they may find it more difficult to fulfil their own conditions and that may slow down the implementation of the programmes. Not because our resources will not be available, but because the Government would have difficulties in implementing its own plans," he said.

The main objective of the programme is to help Jamaica achieve the objectives set in its Vision 2030 Plan and support the new Jamaica Medium Term Socio-Economic Framework (MTF) for the period 2009-2012.

"The money that they get from us is not money that is going towards these specific conditionalities, it is money that goes to the general budget. So we are not telling the Government how to spend this money," Alemanni said.

"(However) it's money that they will only be able to get in so far as they have complied with their own pledges," he added.

On the issue of national security, the European Commission will also be making an additional 33 million euros ($3.82 billion) available to Jamaica over three years under the Security Sector Reform Programme.

The purpose of this initiative is to contribute to the reform of the security sector in Jamaica with accompanying measures in the justice sector.

The programme is aimed at containing the high incidence of crime and streamlining the justice process for a more accountable public service. The specific objectives under this programme have been drawn from the National Security Policy and the Jamaica Constabulary Force Strategic Review.

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com