THE MARITIME Authority of Jamaica is disputing claims that a ship barred from entering the Dominican Republic belongs to Jamaica.
The authority was responding yesterday to Thursday's Asso-ciated Press report, which stated that the Dominican Republic had denied the ship's request to travel through its territorial waters because it was carrying toxic waste. The ship was reportedly on its way to Le Havre, France but was reportedly denied entry based on strong opposition from the Dominican Republic's Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat.
The ship was not registered with the Jamaica Ship Registry and so was not one of the island's ships, Claudia Grant, Senior Director at the Maritime Authority explained via a press release yesterday. "We have determined from an investigation into the matter that there are no Jamaican ships in operation on the route as mentioned in the subject report."
The Gleaner tried to find out the name of the ship and if it had started its journey in the island but was unable to get a response from the Ministry of Land and Environment because officials handling the case were not in office.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it was unaware of the ship or its request and the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) denied knowledge of the event, explaining that it would have been notified if toxic material had leaked or if there had been an environmental accident.
