No rift with US over MOU, says Johnson Smith

The Foreign Affairs Ministry is rejecting a Gleaner report that there is a rift with the United States over intelligence-sharing Memoranda of Understanding.

Gleaner sources say the two governments have been in talks for some time, but have been unable to find common ground.

READ: Growing rift between US, Ja

They also reported that the Administration has indicated that it has concern about the constitutionality of some of the demands of the Americans.

In a statement Monday evening, Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith confirmed that Jamaica is talks with the United States to address what she called legal issues in relation to certain information sharing arrangements.

She also said Jamaica is in similar talks with the United Kingdom and Canada.

But Johnson Smith did not detail the issues or say for how long the consultations have been under way.

“The length of the consultations is a function of the importance of the discussions and the desire by all parties to conclude on satisfactory grounds,” Johnson Smith said.

She also said the consultations have been undertaken in a spirit of friendship and mutual respect.

"We would have been able to advise that the status of consultations on the process of cooperation with the United States on this matter can in no way be described as a rift between the parties,” said Johnson Smith complaining about the original story that there had been no word from the government.

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