Hubert Chin tops Kingston Lodge event

Jamaica Observer | Wednesday, June 23, 2010

HUBERT Chin won the Kingston Lodge 1933 Golf Tournament and a weekend for two at the Half Moon Hotel last Saturday at the Constant Spring Golf Club.

The charity event which sees part proceeds going towards the Reg Keiz Basic School and National Children's Home, fell short of the number of entrants from last year.

With entry fees being $3,500, Ivan Ricketts, a part of the organising committee, told the Observer they received far lest than the 85 players that took part last year.

"We wanted to raise about $600,000, but the entries did not go as expected. We got about 54 entrants, which is still a good number in light of the present economic climate," said Ricketts.

Based on the number of entrants, the organisers collected approximately $189,000, but Ricketts said the exact amount to be donated to the two charitable organisations would not be known until the committee meets.

The tournament, which used an 18-hole stableford (7/8 handicap) format, saw Chin topping the points system with 42.

Stableford is a scoring system where, rather than counting the total number of strokes taken, as in strokeplay, points are scored based on the number of strokes taken at each hole. Unlike traditional scoring methods, where the aim is to have the lowest score, under Stableford rules, the objective is to have the highest score.

Ossie Lee won the Best Mason trophy with 39 points in which there were several sectional winners and a lot of prizes.

List of prizewinners:

Overall winner -- HUBERT CHIN (Weekend for two at Half Moon)

MEN'S FLIGHT 0-8

1st Freddie Sutherland -- Weekend for two at Breezes Braco

2nd Tommy Lee -- Microwave

3rd Carl Bruce -- Dinner for two at Spanish Court Hotel

MEN'S Flight 9-17

1st Ossie Lee Microwave

2nd Dave Cameron -- Juice Extractor

3rd Livingstone Morrison -- Gift Certificate (Sangsters)

4th Paul Seaton -- Gift Basket

5th Carl Scott -- Gift Basket

6th David Mair -- Gift Basket

7th Patrick Gordon -- Gift Basket

MEN'S Flight 18-24

1st Cedric Blair -- Microwave

2nd Brett Jones -- Golf Bag

3rd D. Mullings -- Blender

4th Karl Lewin -- Fan

5th Douglas Stiebel -- Gift Certificate

WOMEN's

1st Mrs H Coe -- Microwave

2nd Mrs Nora Henriques -- Juice Extractor

3rd Mrs Rita Lewin -- Gift Basket

NEAREST TO THE PIN

Men: Ivanhoe Ricketts -- 10 Piece Knife set

LONGEST DRIVE

Men: Freddie Sutherland -- Coffee Maker

Women: Mrs H Coe -- Steam Iron

Best Mason Ossie Lee

'Dudus' in custody - - JamaicaObserver.com

'Dudus' in custody - - JamaicaObserver.com

Golding's ebb and flow

KINDEST CUT... PM Golding at EXPOJA opening with private and public sector leaders (l-r) Greta Bogues, Chris Tufton, Omar Azan, Karl Samuda, Marlene Malahoo Forte and Vitus Evans.

Jean Lowrie-Chin | Jamaica Observer | 21 JUNE 2010
It was a bit like the dramatic construct of Mark Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral, as Bruce Golding tried to reason with his audience that in spite of his huge stumble, he was still a fit leader.

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." Jamaica's exporters, manufacturers, and overseas buyers at the JMA-JEA's EXPO-JAMAICA were a tentative audience and in the first half of what turned out to be a lengthy address, the applause was almost non-existent.

"I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know." Golding began his reasoning, not with recent events, but with the global recession of the past two years. He wanted us to know that it had been the worst in 75 years and resulted in declines in manufacturing and export last year. Yet he pointed out that the EXPO trade show had been oversubscribed, and that his government's revenue collection was improving.

He slightly touched the West Kingston nerve as he mentioned that it had overshadowed the news that Jamaica had reached IMF targets for March and that the Jamaican dollar had regained a good portion of the value it had lost over the past two years.

The plain-spoken JMA President Omar Azan had earlier referred to the high cost of electricity so Bruce Golding launched into a detailed explanation of the licence awarded them in 2002, "enforceable in a court of law" that guarantees them a tariff review every five years. The audience was still reticent, even as Golding announced that he was concluding talks on building a "floating storage and regasification unit" to help Jamaica increase our use of liquid natural gas (LNG) and reduce our dependence on oil.

Then I sensed a bit of relaxation in the audience as he began to speak the language of the manufacturer. Referring to the reduced budget resulting in lower interest rates on government paper, he said, "When you are not gobbling up money, you have to put it to work."

"When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept." Golding said that "the albatrosses" of Air Jamaica and the Clarendon Alumina Production company had been pulling the country down, as the funds lost could have been invested in better education, health and security. He said recent events were a "game changer" and that "you can't take out criminals and not put something in place."

Golding warned that when the Crime Bill is eventually passed, "it is not going to be able to satisfy all interest groups". He warned that "there is an inescapable friction between tackling endemic crime and the idealistic terms regarding human rights", referring to the tough laws that the USA, Britain and Canada had to pass after 9/11.

Golding said he had told his constituents in Tivoli that "the police are never going to leave. Get accustomed to it." As he outlined the Crime Act that would target criminal gangs, Golding felt the warmth of his audience and so he confided that many had been giving him advice. One friend told him, "Hang in there" to which he responded, "I am not hanging in there. I am going there!"

On my way home from the EXPO event on Thursday evening, I caught a report of a PNP meeting being addressed by Opposition spokesperson on security Peter Bunting, describing Golding's resolve to crush crime as "the mother of all flip-flops".

Golding's closing statement told us that he knew his political future was hanging in the balance: "Political fortunes will ebb and flow. That is the nature of politics. My commitment is to do what is necessary. I am at peace with myself. The rest is in your hands and in the hands of the Jamaican people." Mark Antony's audience had shed tears; Golding's gave him a standing ovation, but we have yet to see how Jamaica will respond.

GSAT achiever hails dad

Delton McKenzie with his daughter Danielle, who recently passed her Grade Six Achievement Test for Immaculate Conception High School in St Andrew. - Contributed

Gleaner | 19 June 2010
Laura Redpath, Senior Gleaner Writer
(click on headline for link to Gleaner website)

ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD Danielle McKenzie is just one of many students who passed her Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) for the school of her choice and with Father's Day around the corner, she unhesitatingly credits her own father for her success.

The Sts Peter and Paul Preparatory student will be attending Immaculate Conception High School in September this year.

Danielle said she chose the high school, located in St Andrew, because of its positive academic reputation and its high standards of discipline, an attribute her father, Delton McKenzie, said he instilled in her.

"I give her freedom to some extent, and I keep her disciplined. We have a good relationship," he said.

Delton stressed the importance of fathers taking an active interest in their children's lives, saying parents do not need to live together in order to achieve this.

"Fathers really should help. They can still find the time to be part of their children's growth," he noted.

Although uncertain of her career choice at this time, Danielle said her strong subjects are communications and mathematics.

"(My father) helped me to work hard in my schoolwork. We would stay in the car to study in the mornings.

"Sometimes it got frustrating," she said, "going over the same thing over and over."

Her father agreed that the constant repetition was a challenge, as well as the overwhelming schoolwork.

"Sometimes I thought it was too much. It's a long process, knowing what's going on and quizzing her. I know she's supposed to know things and I check with her teachers.

"I put in my special work in those areas she's weak in and I stay in touch," Delton said, while stressing the importance of paying attention to all the details while studying.

Nervous at first

Danielle said at first she was nervous when she went to sit her exam. However, all the studying with her father paid off.

"After I finished the paper," she said, "I thought it was kind of manageable."

As a father who shows keen interest in his daughter's schoolwork, Delton said he thinks Jamaica's education system tends to "do a lot of weeding out at a very early age".

"It is challenging because of the limited quality spaces in our high-school system.

"More room should be made for social and moral development," he added.

Football fever, Mandela and Jack Warner

During his Trinidad trip to win Jack Warner's votes in 2004, Mandela presented an award to Digicel's then CEO Seamus Lunch. At left is Dr Danny Jordaan, who led South Africa's vigorous campaign.

Jamaica Observer | excerpt from Jean Lowrie-Chin's Column

If there was a time that Jamaica needed to catch a fever, it is right now. Football fever, that is. As we allow it to seize hold of us, we hark back to that time when South Africa's bid as host country of the 2010 World Cup hung in the balance.

It was May 2004 and a group of us travelled with great expectation to Grenada in the hope of seeing Nelson Mandela. We were on assignment for the launch of the Digicel Caribbean Cup and had been told that Jack Warner had organised for the great Mandela to attend. In fact, Mr Mandela had journeyed to Trinidad to court Warner, the powerful head of the Caribbean and Central American Football Confederation (CONCACAF), and FIFA vice-president.

Yes, Nelson Mandela made his last trip to the Western Hemisphere to garner four crucial votes controlled by Jack Warner, as South Africa vied with Morocco and Egypt for that watershed moment in the history of favoured nations: the hosting of

"the greatest show on earth", the World Cup. South Africa's triumph was announced by FIFA President Sepp Blatter on May 15 in Zurich.

In a dramatic account by Mihir Bose published in the UK Telegraph on May 17, 2004, we learn about the efforts by Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu to sway Warner whom it was said had been favouring Morocco in the six months leading up to the vote.

When South Africa triumphed, Bose wrote, "In Zurich, Archbishop Desmond Tutu promised all of the FIFA executives first-class air tickets to heaven, as he danced a jig in front of Mandela who, despite being 85 and looking very frail, declared: 'I feel like a young man of 15'."

But back to our expectant group in Grenada. By the time Nelson Mandela had made the social rounds in Trinidad, he and Archbishop Tutu were both too tired to fly to Grenada. Seeing our "15 minutes of fame" with Mandela fizzling out, I called Jack Warner asking for some form of a "make-good". The photograph on this page was emailed to me by Warner within minutes: he had arranged for Mandela to make a presentation to then Digicel CEO Seamus Lynch in Trinidad.

We left Grenada without seeing Mandela, but with a new respect for a Trinidadian named Jack Warner. Should he be allowed to continue as both Minister of Sports and FIFA VP? The man is "broader than Broadway" - if allowed to serve his country and the world, what synergies may flow.

Hold your head high, Jamaica - Issues & Rights in Jamaica - Letters to the Editor - JamaicaObserver.com

A great letter from my friend, Robert Roskind.

Hold your head high, Jamaica - Issues & Rights in Jamaica - Letters to the Editor - JamaicaObserver.com

Today's Observer cartoon - brilliant Clovis!

Chief Justice throws out case

Chief Justice Zaila McCalla has thrown out applic by Dudus' lawyer to quash warrant for his arrest.
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Economist - Smoke clears over JA

Article sent by Rob Mullally

The smoke clears over Jamaica

Economist | Jun 8th 2010, 19:37

WHEN the Jamaican government announced on May 17th that it would comply with an American request to extradite Christopher "Dudus" Coke, an alleged drug trafficker, it didn't just declare war on the gang he reportedly leads. It also launched a campaign to overturn the country's malign social and political order. Since the 1970s, political parties have, in effect, outsourced the task of governing the island's "garrisons", or working-class neighbourhoods, to leaders of criminal gangs known as "dons", in exchange for their support during elections. The gang founded by Mr Coke's father has long reigned in the Tivoli Gardens garrison of Kingston, the capital. Moreover, it is thought to have close links to the Jamaica Labour Party of Bruce Golding, the prime minister, who represents the district.

The first battle in what will surely be a long struggle to dismantle these alliances took place the week after the extradition announcement. Mr Golding sent 2,000 police and soldiers to Tivoli Gardens to search for Mr Coke house by house. The elusive fugitive still remains at large, and there is now doubt as to whether he was even in Tivoli Gardens at the time. But four days of fighting there led to 73 civilian deaths. Now that the cloud of black smoke over the neighbourhood has cleared, some Jamaicans are starting to criticise how the operation was conducted—and to ask whether Mr Golding has a coherent strategy to root out organised crime.

By some measures, the government's initial salvo was a qualified success. For the first time in a generation, police can now act freely within Tivoli Gardens. Moreover, of the 60 dons on the country's most-wanted lists, 25 have already surrendered or been arrested, including both Mr Coke's brother and one of his business partners. In addition, the police say they discovered the blood-stained torture chamber of one gang member.

However, it appears that serious abuses may have been committed in the state's offensive. In the best-known case, security forces killed Keith Clarke, a 58-year-old accountant and the brother of a former cabinet minister, in a barrage of 20 gunshots at his home. Mr Clarke lived in Kirkland Heights, a wealthy area far from the main battlefield of Tivoli Gardens. But he had the misfortune to live next to one of Mr Coke's business partners, who presumably was the intended target of the raid and later voluntarily surrendered. Most of the other people killed in the operation were young men in Tivoli Gardens, which the government closed off to the media and outside observers during the assault, making it impossible to verify whether they were attacking security forces. The independent public defender's office plans to investigate accusations of excessive and unprovoked use of force.

Two other obstacles in Mr Golding's new fight against organised crime will be the political and fiscal consequences of disrupting the cozy ties between his party and the gangs. His predecessor as prime minister, Edward Seaga, previously represented Tivoli Gardens in Parliament for 43 years, and has been sharply critical of the raid. And his cash-strapped government, which faces crushing debt obligations, can hardly afford a costly increase in the security budget. The finance minister, Audley Shaw, has requested $1 billion in foreign aid to fight the mafias, which would represent 8% of GDP. A big grant of American money might be Mr Golding's best hope. But the United States has financial problems of its own, and would have to be convinced that the funds wouldn't be diverted to the very gangs they hope to defeat.
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No more nightmares

MUNROE... Golding did what his predecessors did not do — take on the crime monster

by Jean Lowrie-Chin | Jamaica Observer | 7 June 2010

DID you have a hard time figuring which day it was last week? Had problems sleeping? Recent events in Jamaica have been traumatic for those directly affected, and troubling for even those far away from West Kingston. We started to lose our bearings as the Hannah Town Police Station went up in flames, and were horrified to hear successive stories about attacks on other stations. We realised that Jamaica was on the verge of anarchy.

As we learnt about the police-military operations in West Kingston, it was clear that the Bruce Golding-led government would not emerge unscathed from these happenings. It was a clear case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't".

A month after he had won the general election in September 2007, I saw a concerned Bruce Golding telling a gathering of businesspeople that 72 per cent of the Jamaican workforce did not have a single high school qualification and 76 per cent did not have a marketable skill. He said he wanted to introduce compulsory schooling up to the age of 18, offering trade training as an option. Golding knew that he had inherited a powder keg.

In 2002, I remember meeting with Morin Seymour at the Kingston Restoration Company appealing for help so that our church ministry could start a skills training programme in Grant's Pen. He linked us to HEART-NTA and for the past eight years nearly 800 students have graduated from the Stella Maris Foundation programme. The majority have found employment while the others have started small enterprises. Five years later Amcham established their Peace Centre, contributing significantly to the health and safety of the community.

Yes, Grant's Pen may still have its occasional difficulties, but nothing compares to those terrible days before these projects got into gear. I heard a commentator on a Newstalk Sunday programme, branding the current security exercise as "class warfare". He should know that most of our community empowerment projects are heavily funded by Jamaica's private sector, many of whose leaders started from scratch and genuinely want prosperity for the less fortunate members of our Jamaican family.

We have worked with some of the most ambitious, peace-loving Jamaicans in Grant's Pen and were puzzled that with all the fervour they were showing for the two major political parties, there was no sustained strategic plan from their representatives for achieving a more productive and peaceful community.

A reader said she told her daughter last week, "If we were to simply stop and take stock of all of the communities between Bull Bay and Old Harbour that surround Kingston and St Andrew, and if we were to add to the inventory those in Montego Bay and include places like May Pen and Sav-la-mar, then we would realise that we are surrounded by communities trapped by criminality in which, after 400 years, our people -- ironically since Independence -- have been enslaved once more. I named them for her, those I know."

She continued, "I did this because I could not understand the shift of the focus of the media from this criminality that is strangling (our) economic, social (growth) and causing the loss of so many of our brothers and sisters -- this criminality that was now under attack by the security forces -- to the rights of persons who had just a couple days before marched on the Parliament of this land demanding that their 'protector' be left to do 'his thing'. I recognise they are also victims but we are at war whether we know it or not and have been at war for a very long time..."

In view of this sad reality, our political representatives should be more serious and focused in their discussion of the proposed crime bill now before the House. Of course, it should be thoroughly debated and amended, if necessary, but the doublespeak and grandstanding around this important piece of legislation is out of place. When will our parliamentarians learn to leave their egos and their baggage at the door?

These representatives of the people are paid by the people to work for the betterment of their constituencies and their country. They have run the state into the ground, allowing, as my reader says, the return of plantation oppression and terror into many communities. If all Jamaica could have moved a vote of no-confidence last week, it would probably have been against both sides of the House.

A local study on trust revealed the following: The highest levels of trust went to (1) family (2) school (3) university and (4) church while the lowest went to (1) local government councils (2) political parties (3) the police and (4) Parliament.

Of the four at the lower end, only the police have been making a concerted effort to clean up their act. We should not use the cop-out that politicians are incorrigible; we vote for them and we can tell them in no uncertain terms whom we will refuse to vote for. All of us so-called educated and decent folk will have to do the research, and lay down more stringent criteria for those who wish to be called "honourable".

While I was outraged at the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips issue (it was the "change and decay" I had mentioned in a previous column), I am willing to accept Bruce Golding's apology. Many had watched communities become progressively ill long before Golding became MP of Western Kingston. Finally it was left to him to give the order for a most painful procedure, his only option before the disease could metastasise.

Professor Trevor Munroe was quoted by Observer reporter Paul Henry as saying that Golding should not be counted out just yet, noting that he has now done what seven prime ministers before him had failed to do: "take on the crime monster".

"Munroe said that it would be a big plus for Golding if his "surgery" to rid the country and "the Jamaican body politic" of this cancer, starting in Western Kingston, started the process of healing, and renewal," wrote Henry.

How will the PNP respond? Since neither side can declare innocence, we expect them to join with the government to expedite this long-awaited dawning of a new day for Jamaica. Let us make it clear to PNP and JLP representatives alike that we the people are putting them on notice: no more nightmares.

COMMENTS (6)

Jah Selassi
6/7/2010
Mrs. Chin please stop confusing heroism with selfishness. Bruce is not a hero, he is a corrupted selfish politician out to save his own skin. Bruce took an oath to defend the Jamaican people. He sold them out at every oppertunity. Bruce abondoned the garrison mentality, just to escape the web of lies he entangled himself in. Bruce is responsible for all this anarchy. He is only loyal to himself and will plunge Jamaica back in a worse nightmare, to maintain his political life.
Wa Tch
6/7/2010
The PM deceived Parliament - that is a monumental disgrace and to amke matters worse, his deception was done on the world stage. As for taking on the crime monster, that suggests a deliberate initiative like that well crafted MP&P one, but no the PM was forced into a corner and had no choice. Either that or lose him shirt. So you can accept his apology and abandon principle in the process. Jamaican politics will be the worse off for it.
Rovert Sirrah
6/7/2010
It's all well and good that the guy apologised but in my humble opinion thats not enough. The guy got to go......he can't be trusted !!!!!....
Lou Brown
6/7/2010
Part of the solution to exorbitant electricity rates lies in the eradication of illegal connections overall but especially in garrison areas where some people are said to have been getting a free ride for many many years. The bottom line is that JPS has to collect for total usage of electricity and the good suffers for the bad. Bear in mind that JPS is a monopoly and to break the strangle, the Private Sector needs to consider Wind and Solar energy.

David Dennis
6/7/2010
My guess is that at some point in time, Bruce Golden will be deemed the savior of our notion like Abraham Lincoln is praised for ending slavery, though he was against doing so at first but eventually did so to save his presidency.
Ramon Castro
6/7/2010
Although back in a comer, the PM has done something that under normal circumstances would never happen. That is attacking the crime monster. And, the think that it started in his own constituency and and a JLP stronghold would be unthinkable a few months ago.
Instead of calling for the PM resignation even though he has NOT committed a crime and has NOT VIOLATED the Constitution, the call should -- rid communities of don, seize their ill gained assets and Constitutional Amendments.

CCRP now live online!

The CCRP website is now live, thanks to the Multimedia Services Jamaica Team led by the brilliant Sherra Pierre March - Multimedia is a member of the RJR Group.

Click below to visit
www.ccrponline.org

Now Caribbean seniors throughout the world can connect via ccrponline.org.

Happy surfing!
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Rainy day in Negril

Even on a rainy day - Negril is still beautiful!
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RELATIONS BETWEEN JAMAICA AND US REMAIN STRONG - AMBASSADOR MARKS

http://www.jis.gov.jm/foreign_affairs/html/20100603T100000-0500_24206_JIS_RELATIONS_BETWEEN_JAMAICA_AND_US_REMAIN_STRONG___AMBASSADOR.asp
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When did they die? - Latest, Breaking News from Jamaica - JamaicaObserver.com

When did they die? - Latest, Breaking News from Jamaica - JamaicaObserver.com

Who is to blame?

Sergeant Wayne Henriques... brutally slaughtered by gunmen along Mountain View Avenue in Kingston.

by Jean Lowrie-Chin | Jamaica Observer | 31 May 2010
(Click on title for link to Jamaica Observer)

The past week in Kingston's history will leave us like amputees - eventually healed but never quite the same again. We are using some positive phrases, "tipping point", "cleansing", but the words stop in our throat as we count the cost in the body count. We mourn with Claude Clarke the tragic loss of his brother a horrible case of mistaken identity. Meanwhile, the target of this operation is nowhere to be found up to the time of writing.

Who is to blame for this? Is it the 41-year-old "strongman", nurtured in the lap of a previously impenetrable garrison? Is it the man who took this community from a slum called "Back-O-Wall" to a built-up community where one could only be admitted by lieutenants on guard at its entrances? Could it be Coke's legal team who did not persuade their client to turn himself in, despite pleas from the police over a four-day period before their eventual operation in Tivoli?

Could it be the church leaders from the community who silently watched the women of Tivoli conducting an illegal demonstration and declaring, "We will die for Dudus"? Oh no. None of these names will be called when Amnesty descends on Jamaica. It will only be the fault of the police.

We are not defending any alleged excesses by the police, but we must never lose sight of the fact that the 73 people who died in Tivoli and its environs last week, would be alive today if only Mr Coke had obeyed the law.

We will sit in our comfortable homes, in our secure air-conditioned studios and lash out at the men who must crawl in dark gutters to protect us. We will sit around our dining tables with our families and pick their procedure to pieces, even as their families wait in trepidation for their safe return home. I have been speaking to some senior police officers over the past week, and they are deeply hurt at the constant bombardment.

Could we spare a thought for Sgt Wayne Henriques and Constable Jason Davis who were ambushed on Mountain View Avenue and slaughtered by criminals, part of the wide offensive launched against the security forces as soon as the warrant for the arrest of Christopher Coke was signed? These were two of our many courageous officers.

The human rights group, Jamaicans for Justice, issued a statement saying,"Our deepest sympathies are extended to the families and colleagues of those law officers killed in the service of their country. The lawlessness displayed in some areas and by some people, since the announcement that the extradition request for Christopher 'Dudus' Coke would be signed, are utterly deplorable and cannot be tolerated in a free and democratic society."

We join with JFJ in condemning the lawlessness displayed by marauding gunmen who have attacked several police stations, including one as far away as Salt Spring in St James. We need to understand the depth of cold-hearted brutality to which our criminals have descended.

As I wrote in my blog last Monday, we the church must shoulder a good part of the blame for our nation's plight. All of us who call ourselves church must ensure that this tragic situation in Kingston never happens again. We need a proactive church to assign watchdog committees in every constituency of Jamaica, as we know that both PNP and JLP representatives have sanctioned garrison politics. We should have teams assigned to the offices of MPs and caretakers alike. We should learn their plans and partner with them to help their constituents to achieve self-reliance. If they are consorting with gangs, warn them, and if they refuse to stop, expose them. With CAFFE, we must ensure that no politician who is associated with gangs is ever again nominated to run for public office.

Jamaica's churches and we, their members, are accountable. We are more numerous than politicians and gangs - yet we stood piously by and allowed this to happen to our country.

As Rev Devon Dick wrote, "Let us not blame so much the unnamed woman for the affirmation "Dudus next to God", but perceive it as an indictment of the church which often engages in cowardice and inaction rather than confronting evil."

Dr Las Newman, president of the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology, had warned at this year's National Leadership Prayer Breakfast, that " Jamaica is no longer at a crossroads, it is going down the wrong moral and spiritual road ... None of us can wash our hands and proclaim our innocence ... All of us must accept responsibility."

Where is the energy, the productivity that Jesus promoted in his parable of the talents? We are the failures, even as we demand more of our leaders and security forces. We have fallen very short of the righteousness that we profess.

Let the heads of the umbrella groups agree on a list of actions that will ensure that churches engage in an organised and meaningful basis so that by collaborating with our elected leaders, we can deliver prosperity, not harm, to our vulnerable brothers and sisters. We must work to empower them and restore their dignity, so that never again will anyone be able to coerce them to defy the rule of law.

COMMENTS (15)

Marc Lockhart
5/31/2010
@ Richard, I agree with you, bro. Everybody is just bent on playing this blame game. Throwing blame around will not help us. We need decisive transformative action by all well-thinking citizens. It seems the church is their banging toy; so everyone just turns on the church when things go wrong. Let us unite and rebuild Jamaica!
Christian Shaw
5/31/2010
God neither slumbers nor sleep. I can only imagine how deeply the security personnel must be hurt by all the cry about their brutality etc. They are giving their lives daily for many unnecessary causes , causes which are oftentimes orchestrated by influential people including politicians.
Sometimes we just do not know the face of the enemy.I would like to assure these men and women of the forces that many in Jamaica depend on you to keep us safe and uphold the law . God bless you all.
Bobby Livingston
5/31/2010
Despite the loss of innocent lives, and the cry of injustice to the poor echoed by some sectors of the society, let us all view these last few days with optimism. Golding ineptness has involuntarily open the door for change where our security force can finally performed their duty without political interference. This should be the final warning to all our politicians who have embraced these ruthless thugs for political gains. Next time around they will be better organized to cause instablity.
Richard Wayne
5/31/2010
For a very long time many of you hypocrites did not care about what happened downtown (aka the ghetto). You sat in your ivory towers lived the high life and feted each other as the two Jamaicas emerged. It was the uptown white collar criminals in the 1990s that wrecked havoc in Jamaica and for the most part you were all silent. N ow that the ghetto is your neighbor you are all taking notice. Get off unnu baxide and help to make the changes necessary and screw the blame game!!!
Stephen Gunter
5/31/2010
Re: Could it be the church leaders from the community who silently watched the women of Tivoli conducting an illegal demonstration and declaring, "We will die for Dudus"?
Was the demonstration illegal? If so, was anyone arrested? They were all caught on camera, so arrests should have been easy. Or, perhaps, it was a legal demonstration, described by many media reports as being so and non-violent.
Omar Kenyata
5/31/2010
Agree with the a lot of this article but the role of the church she desires is a little tricky. Every time the church speaks , people say "shut up and stick to church business". When the consequence of ignoring the church becomes evident people ask" where was the church?" The Church comprises a long active force in society that by it's Lord's mandate CANNOT blow it own trumpet. Fortunately church has no power to impose only to propose and prod on National issues as it continues to work quietly.
Wa Tch
5/31/2010
Could it be the PM and MP who interfered where he shouldn't have and allowed TG to continue it's descent into lawlessness?
How convenient that you have omitted the person who played such a significant role yet the church is to take the lion's share of the blame.
@Paul Gentles - well said.

Nicolas Henry
5/31/2010
Well said ms Chin. my condolence to the families of the dead security officers. Thanks for your bravery, and I hope the politicians won't allow your death to be invain. I hope they will use this episode as a symbol for a better and safer Jamaica to come, so your children & grandchildren will have a safer country to live in.
tony williams
5/31/2010
What is wrong with these privileged people. They keep harping on the role of politiciansin this sordid affair hoping to deflect the peolple's understanding of the real cause. The fact is the rich and priveleged have chosen, financed and used the political order to maintain their iron grip on their Economic and political structures of our country marginalising the rest to chronic poverty and despair. It is the struggle to rise out of this squalor that has led to the accommodation of the Duduses.
Chuck Emanuel
5/31/2010
Blame the mal-contenders in the political leadership who has tacitly or otherwise encouraged and empowered the illegal actions of narco-traffickers, gun-runners, contract killers, extortionists and terrorists.
Now that the evidence is clear that these tribal/political ideologues were acting in concert with narco-terrorists and other criminal elements for political advantage, we must hold them accountable.
It will not be business as usual. Thanks to President Obama.
Paul Gentles
5/31/2010
Yes,we are all to blame. But things cascade - as long as the PM have the power to tell the AG and various security ministries etc that "if you sign those papers you will be sacked" and no one enters this place without my say so etc. what can the ordinary citizen do?
Our greatest blame is not to have been holding those in high office accountable,our laws are governed in dictator style.
Human rights groups are effectively protecting those our laws are failing,why are we failing them?
Anthony II
5/31/2010
We, everyone of us Jamaicans, failed the people of TG and similar places. We have all sat by all these years and tolerated the talk and gossip and the questions. We have done nothing. However, we need to move beyond assigning blame and to figuring out what we can do to ensure that TG will never see another incursion of security forces in another 4 or 5 years.
.
Security forces: I commend you for the sacrifices that you make each day to serve JAM. I encourage you to always do it right.
george watson
5/31/2010
Security forces just keep cool. All well thinking Jamaicans both here and in the disapora owe you a depth of gratitude which we can never repay. In fact all members of the security forces who went into TG on this mission should be PROMOTED at least ONE RANK UP IMMEDIATELY.
If you get any obstructions based on your operations lock up the politicians of any ilk immediately.
Because of this foolishness, Dr. Eldemire, a gentleman who served his country with distinction and honour could not even be mourned properly. Rest in peace Sir, many of us knew that you were a decent man who loved his country dearly.

John Small
5/31/2010
Thanks for the dose of balance. When everybody's hearts were in their throats on Sunday, worrying at the brazen display of criminal mayhem, they were begging thje Police to take charge. Now, all of a sudden, the Police is "wicked" because they died in fewer numbers than the gunmen.
Marc Lockhart
5/31/2010
How did the church get into this? To me, this whole fiasco has to do with the nexus between politics and criminality. Period! The church is there to focus on spirituality and morality and may even fail in this regard. The problem is the heart of humans and human freedom, not church inaction or action for that matter. Why should we connect everything to the church? Somethings have a clear-cut non-church rationale for their existence. Let us stop the church bashing and the "religionizing".

U.S. Set to Grab Alleged Jamaican Drug Lord

U.S. law enforcement officials have put Drug Enforcement Administration Air Wing pilots on alert.

DEA Pilots Alerted That Grab of Alleged Jamaican Drug Lord May Be Near

Christopher 'Dudus' Coke Negotiating Surrender With U.S., DEA Pilots On Alert

ABC News | By RICHARD ESPOSITO and MARK SCHONE
May 27, 2010 U.S. law enforcement officials have put Drug Enforcement Administration Air Wing pilots on alert and planes on standby as they wait out the ongoing discussions between alleged Jamaican drug lord Christopher "Dudus" Coke and the U.S. government -- and wait to see whether Coke will be brought out of hiding in handcuffs or in a body bag.

US Marshals, DEA agents and federal prosecutors are working hand in hand with senior Jamaican military and police officials in an effort to effect a surrender and extradition of Coke, who is wanted on federal drug and firearms charges, to the United States.

At least 60 Jamaicans, including both civilians and security officers, have died since Jamaican authorities began moving in on Coke's barricaded West Kingston neighborhood in an attempt to capture him Monday. The U.S. has wanted to extradite Coke since 2009, but the Jamaican government had resisted until this month.

The violence shows no signs of abating and has spread to adjoining neighborhoods. The police and military effort to curb it now has by some estimates "thousands" of troops on the streets. Jamaican authorities allege that Coke brought in gunmen from other parts of Jamaica and other Caribbean islands to help prevent his capture.

(Click on title for link to ABC website)

Ian Martin's comments

Letter to the Observer from Ian Martin

Disingenuous Politicians

Dear Editor: I write in reference to your page one editorial of Tuesday May 25, 2010 edition of the Jamaica Observer, captioned "It's been a long time coming".

Before, going into the contents of your editorial, I would like to express my sympathy to the families, friends, and relatives of members of the security forces and the decent and law abiding citizens of Tivoli Gardens and adjoining communities who have lost loved ones in the current civil unrest in Western Kingston.

With that said, I wholeheartedly support the sentiments echoed by your editorial. In fact, I allude your editorial to a well-outlined lesson for the crisis that now engulfs Jamaica, albeit its tardiness.

Interestingly Betty-Ann Blaine, Chris Burns, Jean Lowrie-Chin, Lloyd B. Smith are among the few of your columnist who in past and recent times have commented and warned readers of the danger that had been forthcoming. If my memory serves me right, Betty-Ann Blaine had gone as far as appealing to the Jamaican electorate, just prior to the last general election, to withhold their votes as means of protesting the unbecoming behavior of our politicians.

The problems and the mayhem that now beset Jamaica, as well as the beatings and bad publicity inflicted upon her by the foreign press in recent times must be placed squarely on the shoulders of our self-serving politicians. Some of that blame must also be attributed to the private sector. Truth be told, the private sector plays a very integral part in the funding of political parties. While there may be nothing illegal about the private sector funding political parties, the private sector has a duty to see or for that matter ensure that politicians and political parties, especially those receiving its funding behave as how decent citizens ought to behave.

Based on television footage coming out of Tivoli Gardens, it is indeed frightening to see general purpose machine guns (GPMG) at the ready mounted on army vehicles in such vicinity. Equally frightening is the intelligence coming from the security forces that the men operating in Tivoli Gardens have had at their disposal grizzly 50 boar rifles, and were very well prepared to use them. GPMG's and grizzly 50 boar rifles are extremely lethal weapons and are not usually recommended for close-quarters encounters. By definition, Tivoli Gardens is a close-quartered environment.

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The painful truth

Excerpts from Observer columns by Jean Lowrie-Chin

Monday March 8, 2010 - Neck Deep in Denial
Those of us who lived in Jamaica in more peaceful times have watched some political leaders becoming more and more dependent on thuggery to marshal their votes. Our Electoral Office of Jamaica has ensured a fair and just electoral system. What happens before and after elections in certain neighbourhoods is beyond their power.

To this day, political tribalism divides many communities. "It is not politics, it is gang warfare," our politicians are fond of saying. To which we respond, where is the political will to rid us of these gangs?

Despite repeated calls in this column, CAFFE can neither be heard nor seen after elections. Once a politician is elected, all scrutiny stops. This is when it should intensify. Why has CAFFE not joined Dr Herbert Gayle in his appeal to have the constituency development fund administered by an independent agency? Gayle, a lecturer in sociology at the UWI, has done extensive research on the causes of crime. In last year's Ambassador Sue Cobb Lecture, he named this as an important measure to help tame the beast.

In the US, candidates go from door to door, winning over supporters, one vote at a time. But in Jamaica, some "clever" politicians have sullied the name of independent Jamaica by deciding on an easy, if not legal way, to lock up their votes. This door-to-door business is much too labour-intensive for them. And so, several political "stars" were born. These luminaries of the inner-city would never see the inside of Gordon House, but they would decide who would get a place there.

The politicians who may not have had direct contact with these "protectors" turned a blind eye, either out of fear or out of ambition. And we Jamaicans have whispered about such wrongs but did aught about it. The better-off ones among us, who could have used our money to insist on cleaner politics, did nothing and allowed two generations of Jamaicans to become brutalised by this selfish, cynical and short-sighted brand of politics. We are neck-deep in denial.

Monday 10 May 2010

If it matters to our leaders on both sides, they should know that we know how deftly they built those communities where our fellow Jamaicans may not walk or talk freely. We know and we feel very sorry for anyone who could believe that their fleeting power could be more important than the lives of their Jamaican brothers and sisters. They are now naked on the internet, naked on YouTube and people know that it is not a coincidence of criminality that has brought our beloved Jamaica to her knees. It is a cynical plan to hold on to power, passing from one party to the other every now and then, complicit in each other's cold confidence: "Today for you, tomorrow for me".

Yes, we know there are good politicians on both sides and we are now begging them to stand up and be counted as the ones who declared "No more!" and who will take Jamaica on the path of righteousness that she so dearly longs for.

But let the world know that good Jamaicans have been brought to our knees - not to cower before thugs, but to pray to the awesome God who sees all and sees far. What hapless souls are those, that no longer fear God.

Let the criminals - including the corrupt - know that there are simple, godly people in this country who still sleep well at night, who do honest work and share the little they have without chaining beneficiaries to lifelong obligation.

The Almighty who gave us free will, must have wept also, as He sees too many of us ignoring the condition of the poor, imprisoned in garrisons, fast developing across the island. In a CVM-TV interview, Dr Henley Morgan referred to our garrisons as "the society's terminal crime affliction". He said we had made the wrong diagnosis about crime, as it was not mainly about the international drug trade. He believes it is all about the "zones of exclusion" in Jamaica.

Washington Post report

Violence surges in Jamaica as troops hunt alleged drug kingpin

By Mary Beth Sheridan

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Thousands of police and soldiers swarmed into slums in Jamaica's capital Tuesday in search of an alleged drug kingpin wanted by the United States, trading gunfire with masked supporters of the fugitive. At least 30 people, mostly civilians, have been reported killed since the battle erupted Sunday.

Slum standoff in Jamaica

In a gritty Jamaican slum, they are preparing for war. Kingston has been jittery since Prime Minister Bruce Golding reversed his long-standing refusal to extradite Christopher "Dudus" Coke to the United States on drugs and arms-trafficking charges.
The security forces were seeking Christopher "Dudus" Coke, one of the top targets for U.S. anti-drug officials. Jamaica's prime minister gave the go-ahead for his extradition last week, after nine months of resistance strained the island's relations with Washington.

The bloodshed in Kingston occurred as the Obama administration has become increasingly concerned about surging violence in the Caribbean linked to the drug trade.

The administration wants to more than double anti-narcotics aid for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to $79 million for 2011. U.S. officials will hold a previously scheduled meeting in Washington on Thursday with security ministers from the Caribbean to discuss ways to reduce trafficking and increase safety.

The battles in Kingston have showcased the brazenness of the drug gangs, which have attacked five police stations since Sunday. The Jamaican government has declared a state of emergency in Kingston, and the U.S. State Department warned Americans not to travel to the capital.

The violence has not spread to the palm-fringed beach areas that draw millions of tourists each year.

Coke, who allegedly assumed leadership of the "Shadow Posse" from his father, was accused in a U.S. indictment in August of heading an international trafficking ring that sells marijuana and crack cocaine in the New York area and elsewhere.

Coke, 41, is often described as a kind of godfather in Tivoli Gardens, a West Kingston slum, where he reportedly provides food and assistance to the poor. But some analysts say residents might follow him more out of fear than love.

John Rapley, president of the Caribbean Policy Research Institute, a think tank, said Coke's case reflected how entwined Jamaica's drug gangs have become with the nation's political system. The alleged drug lord is believed to be close to members of the governing Labor Party, although not Prime Minister Bruce Golding himself, Rapley said.

Many Jamaicans believe that Coke "could bring down . . . members of the government and the opposition" if he pleads guilty and cooperates with U.S. justice officials, Rapley said. "So the stakes are very high for the politics of the country."

In West Kingston, masked gunmen darted down streets barricaded with barbed wire and junked cars on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. Gunfire echoed through the slums.

A police spokesman, Cpl. Richard Minott, told the AP that 26 civilians and one security official had been killed in the fighting in West Kingston.

Two officers and a soldiers were killed in earlier fighting, the AP reported.

Golding, who represents a parliamentary district including West Kingston, had come under heavy pressure from U.S. authorities in recent months to allow the extradition. A State Department report on global drug trafficking issued in March said that the delays in extraditing narcotics suspects "have called into question Kingston's commitment to law enforcement cooperation with the U.S."

Coke's lawyer has said his client is innocent.

State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said the U.S. government had agreed to send bulletproof vests to Jamaica to help its security forces deal with the violence.

Jamaica's ambassador to Washington, Audrey Marks, said in a statement that the island "faces a growing problem, in part generated by the linkage between drugs and arms smuggling. The security operations now underway are intended to have a decisive impact on this problem."

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Public Defender and Political Ombudsman to Visit Tivoli For Independent Assessment

JIS | Tuesday, May 25, 2010 | Kingston, Jamaica: Prime Minister Bruce Golding has requested the Public Defender, Mr. Earle Witter and Political Ombudsman, Dr. Hero Blair, to visit Tivoli Gardens today to conduct an independent assessment of the operations being carried out by the Security Forces. They have been instructed to ascertain the precise number of persons who have been killed or injured.

The Prime Minister has directed the Security Forces to make the necessary arrangements to facilitate this visit and to provide the necessary security to the Public Defender, the Political Ombudsman and those who accompany them.

The Red Cross will also provide support including ambulances to transport those who have been injured or are otherwise in need of medical attention.