There are renewed calls for the British Government to return millions of dollars to the Caribbean to ensure its development arising from slavery.

Chair of the Caribbean Reparations Commission Professor Sir Hilary Beckles wants the Caribbean to take on the reparations matter with more urgency.

He was speaking at a press conference this morning, at the Center for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies Mona.

He explained that information is now available which indicates that up to three years ago in 2015 the British Government was paying back a 20 million pound loan to the owners of the enslaved. That is valued at 16 billion pounds today.

Sir Hilary noted that  Britain and other European nations have argued that they will not and cannot apologize for crimes against African people  because  slavery and the slave trade were legal activities ,  and that they occurred a long time ago, and are  not subject to any form of settlement.

He said further that in September 2015 when then British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the Caribbean and spoke in Jamaica’s  parliament  he expressed the view   that  slavery was in the past, should be forgotten  and people should move on.

He notes that with  payments being made up to  three years ago ,  thousands of Caribbean people who have been living in England  for the past few decades have been paying back the owners of the enslaved through taxes.

Sir Hilary says the matter is not a thing of the past and the Britain needs to pay up.