A frequently heard comment in the wake of the May 23rd assault by Jamaican security forces on Tivoli Gardens is that Jamaica Defence Force soldiers are far more civil and easy to trust than the police. The latter stand accused of shooting to kill without any consideration for whether the target is actually a suspected criminal or not. The soldiers on the other hand have been accused at the most of paying too much attention to the young women of Tivoli, an area that has remained under curfew ever since the barricades of Tivoli were demolished.
Of course the soldiers too are alleged to have participated in some questionable activities such as the hasty and unauthorized burial of bodies in makeshift coffins during the siege of Tivoli. But their reputation has fared far better than that of the much reviled and feared Police Force accused of wantonly killing young men in the affected areas. According to a Trini friend who generally knows about such things, a state of emergency is an opportunity for rogue police to go around eliminating those who are their partners in crime in times of peace--those who abet them in drug dealing, illegal taxi operations, extortion among other things. If true, this could explain the outrageously high number of casualties in the operation to capture Dudus--who of course, remains free and alive.
The Hunt for Dudus has inspired Belizean artist Hubert Neal Jr., who arrived in the island on May 20, just before the 'Operation Take Dudus Alive' unfurled. Neal, an artist in residence at Roktowa on Pechon Street around the corner from Coronation Market and Tivoli Gardens found himself the recipient of an unlikely studio visit a few days ago when three groups of soldiers decided to patrol the old Red Stripe Brewery where he works along with the Haitian artists who are part of the 'Trembling Heart' project.
The soldiers allowed themselves to be detained by Neal's painting in progress, titled--what else--The Hunt for Dudus. They questioned him closely about his representation of the storming of Tivoli, disapproving of the low number of soldiers depicted (see photos above and below). On the whole however they were quite animated by the work they saw and their unorthodox art critique thrilled Hubert who documented The Studio Visit on his blog The Visual Poets Society.
Photos below by Annie Paul The Hunt for Dudus by Hubert Neal Jr. (work in progress)
Dudus in between his bodyguards above and terrified woman and child below
A beaming Neal...
The most potent paintings i think are the two below, Hubert's depictions of the torture chamber the media described finding in Tivoli. I'm particularly moved by his interpretation of the grave found with a skeleton buried upright in it (below right).
Last Saturday we were part of a visit to award-winning writer/sociologist Erna Brodber's home at Woodside, St. Mary. As part of her Blackspace project she has documented various sites and relics dating from the days of slavery. One of the things she mentioned was the existence of what she referred to as a 'punishment hole' somewhere in the vicinity. What's that, I asked.
Well, sometimes slaves were punished by being buried upright up to their necks for days on end, said Erna. Wow, i thought, the Tivoli Punishment Hole was no doubt a variant of this time-honoured method of torture.
Erna Brodber at the entrance to the Woodside Community Centre
If you come to Roktowa next Sunday for the opening of Laura Facey's show Propel you can see Hubert's painting and work by the Haitian artists as well. In addition to Laura's marvelous drawings, prints, carving and sculpture there will also be Nine Night singing. The show is curated by Melinda Brown. Click on invite below for address and map to Roktowa.
On May 8 I had occasion to talk to Tom Tavares-Finson, Chris Dudus Coke's erstwhile lawyer (who stepped down as part of his defence team on May 18, citing conflict of interest) at a mutual friend's birthday party. Can you talk about Dudus I asked, unable to resist my reporter's instincts.
"You mean that figment of the collective imagination?" Tom responded playing his legal role to the hilt; according to him, Dudus was an ordinary man on whom every abnormal event--the revoking of visas, crimes of various kinds, resignations--was being pinned with abandon. I was more than willing to engage in a spirited discussion on this unlikely portrayal of the nation's Public Enemy No. 1 but, alas, was deterred by frantic hand signals from my host who was afraid that the ensuing argument might derail his party.
I don't think anyone there could have guessed that within two weeks Tom's beloved Tivoli would be torn to pieces by Jamaican armed forces searching for Dudus who was barricaded in there. And apart from the one or two nondescript photographs circulating in the media there was hardly any information on this man now hunted on grounds of being a dangerous criminal mastermind by the United States.
Finally this morning, Jamaica's Sunday Gleaner has shed some more light on this retiring character in an excellent article by Tyrone Reid called "FROM MATH WHIZ TO WANTED." For once we're able to read a story like this in the local media and not in the New York Times, on BBC or CNN. The Gleaner reporter tracked down people who knew Coke at Ardenne High School, and uncovered information suggesting that the young Coke was anything but a ganglord in the making. In fact he was one of that rare, endangered species in Jamaica, a natural mathematical talent.
"The math teacher remembered Coke as one of his elite batch, picked at the end of the ninth grade.
Having breezed through CXC math Coke tackled the dreaded additional mathematics (add math) in Grade 11 and scored a Grade B - the second-highest mark.
"Math is the only universal language, and he spoke it very fluently," the teacher reminisced. "I taught him for five years straight. Basically, he was the model student; very quiet, and there were no problems in terms of discipline," said the educator.
Dudus is not a run of the mill ordinary Joe, looking to make some money and in search of power. He has never been and he will never be regarded by those who have known him, in that light.
I have personally known all the previous 'dons' of Tivoli Gardens. I had a special affection for Massop; I was closely involved with Bya; I watched Jah T go through high school at Wolmer's; I was particularly close to Jim Brown, and although not as close to Dudus as I was to his father, the younger Coke has commanded my respect.
Dudus has undeniably captured the nation's imagination. At the recently staged Calabash Literary Festival the open mic segment was dominated by references to both Dudus and Tivoli. As news broke that his brother Livity and sister Sandra had both turned themselves in to the Police stories started swirling.
Was it true, enquiring minds on Facebook wanted to know, that Livity Coke was on Twitter and when rumours of his demise were reported he immediately tweeted saying "See mi yah"? The urban legends surrounding the Coke family continue to grow yet there have been no images in the media here of either Sandra or Livity or any further information about them.
The Jamaican media is puzzling in its tendency to conceal rather than reveal the news. Tightlipped and taciturn at the best of times, it took the New York Times to carry an article on the extrajudicial killings by the security forces in Tivoli. With the exception of Lloyd D'Aguilar, my former co-host on Newstalk 93, who took it upon himself to visit Tivoli in the wake of the assault on it, and report on what he found there, no other major news media here has followed up in a serious way on the 'collateral damage' caused by the breaching of Tivoli.
In the aftermath of the events of May 24th the BBC had footage of masked gunmen in Tivoli fortifying themselves and the community (see below). A reliable source informs me that this footage was actually shot by a TV Jamaica cameraman who had access to the individuals in question yet TVJ declined to air the exclusive video allowing the BBC an unnecessary scoop. The local television channel's reticence in airing the footage shot by its own cameraman remains a mystery.
What amazed me about this BBC footage that i watched over and over again in my hotel room in Barbados was that much of the early scenery shown, with police dodging around corners of buildings was right outside the National Gallery of Jamaica. The Gallery's walls are slightly pockmarked with bullet holes now and the fighting outside was so intense that a security guard was trapped inside the Gallery for 5 days.
"How did he survive? What did he eat?" I gasped when told this by the Executive Director of the Gallery, Veerle Poupeye.
"Well, he had access to the coffee shop. Thank God we stock three different flavours of muffins there," she replied laughing.
Well, the Gideon (local slang for Armageddon) continues. Last night it seemed as if things in Kingston had simmered down but this morning i checked into Twitter to hear that the armed forces were lobbing grenades and perhaps bombs at a house in E. Kirkland Heights, a very upscale neighbourhood in Red Hills, Kingston. “The template of violence in jamaica has changed ova d las week. Its now an insurgency with all the relevant weaponry” tweeted one of the people i follow. “I wanna see the police deny this one. Grenades an bombs are the new weapon of choice for the state now.”
No idea whether the Police suspect that Dudus is holed up in there or some other Don. Things unravelled very quickly. On May 17th Prime Minister Bruce Golding addressed the nation saying apologetically that he was finally giving the go-ahead for the signing of the papers to extradite Dudus to the US, something he had resisted for 9 months. To many of us it was clear that the US had made him an offer he couldn’t refuse; pressure from the local media, business and other interest groups had also mounted in the weeks leading up to this astonishing about-face.
As i said before Dudus’ lawyer Tom Tavares-Finson was furious. He would take the matter to court the next day he said but the following day we heard that he had removed himself from the team representing Dudus due to conflict of interest issues; issues however that had always existed. All I can say is, do not use this as an excuse to slaughter innocents in Tivoli, an angry Finson was heard saying in interview after interview on radio and tv. His words would prove prophetic.
The day after Golding’s speech it was announced that a warrant had been issued for Dudus’s arrest. That would have been on May 18th. The rest of the week was tense with everyone expecting the Police and Army to invade Tivoli at any minute but the armed forces seemed unusually tolerant, waiting patiently for Dudus to turn himself in. Actually they were waiting till the weekend of the 21st, a long weekend with the 24th being a holiday in Jamaica--Labour Day--to make their move.
On the 23rd a number of colleagues and i were at the airport waiting to catch a flight to Barbados to attend the Caribbean Studies’ Association's 35th annual conference presciently titled “The Everyday Occurrence of Violence in the Cultural Life of the Caribbean” when i saw a tweet saying that shots were being fired in the vicinity of Tivoli. It’s going down i said to one of my colleagues, a leading Jamaican criminologist, the war is beginning.
I wouldn’t say so he said calmly, assuring us that his information was that Dudus was willing to turn himself in to the US authorities and was expected to do so any minute now. Well, that turned out to be misinformation of the highest quality. By the time we reached Barbados we heard that a state of emergency had been imposed and I’ve literally been glued to Twitter and online media ever since.
What makes him exceptional is that he has also managed to forge coalitions between gangs across party lines and across the country when needed because of the respect he commands. His reach extends beyond his immediate community across all kinds of borders and is a testament to his abilities as an astute leader.
Had he been legit and able to run for election he would have probably created a modern, efficient Jamaica the likes of which have yet to be seen, but of course one where personal freedoms may have been more circumscribed than they are today.
The problem is his links to the underworld do not permit the state to continue the tacit alliance with him and others like him that have persisted to this day.
The question is how do you take the milk out of the coffee once the two have been mixed. That is the predicament Jamaica finds itself in.
Meanwhile the Gideon continues and while many of us would like to comfort ourselves by thinking that this is a necessary bloodletting, a purge of the criminal elements in society, the truth is otherwise. Discriminating between criminals and law-abiding citizens is not as easy as we think particularly for the Police force, members of which are known to wield their ‘license to kill’ with wanton disregard. i received a heartbreaking message from a friend about the execution of a young man she personally knew, by the police, a story which was reported in the media under the headline “Cops kill three men in Back Bush.”
One of the men was well-known to my friend and no criminal. Here is part of the heartbreaking message i received from her this morning:
"Picked up one of my neighbours on the road only to hear that Ian Gordon, a sweet young dread who ran a little "venue" in Irish Town square was killed by the police. Hard to believe he would be involved in anything - he would always ask me if I had dominos, or other games, that I could give him because he liked to have lots of games for people coming to his place. On Sundays I would sometimes take him down to town and he always said he was going to visit his 2 daughters. He had a lovely girlfriend, also a dread, and it was a joke in Irish Town how they were always together. Anyway I'm sure this Observer story of how he died is accurate, and this is probably happening to young men all over Kingston. Very depressing. "
It turns out also that the early morning raid on Red Hills i mentioned earlier was in pursuit of Dudus who was believed to be holed up in a house there. In the process of flushing him out the armed forces have killed another innocent man, Keith Clarke, the brother of former minister Claude Clarke, who lived nearby, by mistake.
Mr. Seaga, former Prime Minister is also concerned about the safety of the residents of Tivoli Gardens, his former constituents and has broken his silence. I conducted an interview with him in January this year in which i asked him about his relationship with Dudus and the fact that he had once placed him at the top of a list of wanted men that he provided the Police with in 1994. I'll post relevant portions of the interview later.
Time doesn’t permit for me to write much more right now. I’m still at the conference in Barbados but will end with two lighthearted takes on what is a truly dread situation back home, (to use Jamaican parlance).
The photo posted at the top of this blog is actually a piece of graffiti seen in Barbados on the day the armed forces went into Tivoli Gardens in pursuit of Christopher Lloyd Coke--Dudus. The blog that carried it said “This sign was seen today (Monday May 24 Bank Holiday) on the left-hand side of Collymore Rock Road going towards Wildey from Bridgetown.” Dudus's reach clearly extends beyond Jamaican shores.
And of course Jamaicans being Jamaican still have a mordant sense of humour. The following dance poster was making the rounds on email and facebook.
Update: Today was the most unsettling exciting day in the last decade or so. Around 3 pm started to hear rumours that 'war' was going to break out because the Prime Minister was going to announce that the extradition proceedings agaist 'Dudus' Coke were going forward. A feeling of panic began to spread and there was a stampede to get out of downtown where the rumours started circulating around 11 in the morning. By mid-afternoon everyone was on the road trying to reach a safe place. Top 10 ways to get home quickly proclaimed a blog...
The most interesting thing was that the US Embassy sent out an announcement saying a talk it had planned to hold at the Institute of Jamaica tomorrow was being postponed. I found the title of the talk interesting. It was called “Congress and the President: An Invitation to Conflict” and should have been delivered by one Don Baker. hmmmmmmmm. Doesn't Bruce own a bakery? At the appointed hour Bruce Golding addressed the nation looking suitably contrite and apologizing profusely. Then he announced that the Attorney General was going to sign the relevant papers so that the extradition could proceed.Dudus' lawyer, Tom Tavares-Finson was reputed to be livid with anger; he would defend his client in court he said.
More on the runnings tomorrow. Time for bed now...
Mr Golding has now admitted to parliament that he authorised the hiring of a law firm to lobby senior US State Department officials on Mr Coke's behalfPhoto: AFP/GETTY (Daily Telegraph UK)
Las May, Daily Gleaner, 15 May 2010(our cartoonists are world class) I feel it for Bruce Golding. Who could have predicted the woes that would befall his first two years as Crime Minister, er, oh, LOL, i mean Prime Minister. I know what his wife Lorna means when she says we must read between the lines because he isn't free to disclose everything. My first reaction when i heard that he had admitted sanctioning the Manatt, Phelps 'initiative' from the get-go was that someone or something had forced his hand. Only something far worse staring him in the face could have made owning up to having played fast and loose with the truth seem like the better alternative.
And i feel it for him because this turn of events has nothing to do with him personally, or the Jamaica Labour Party for that matter. It's just the way the cookie crumbles in countries that are well on their way to being narco-democracies. I'm amazed at the amount of moral indignation being directed at the PM by members of the media. C'mon! It's not a matter of morality is it? It's a matter of how to decriminalize a country. Not easily done. The Colombians might have a tip or two and the Haitians. Forget about decriminalizing ganja or gay-ness, this is an entire country that has been hijacked by criminality. How is a government to cope?
Granted the PM could have handled the entire matter differently from the beginning. But he was playing by the old rules like all politicians have done so far. And he's been jerked to reality by the powers-that-be. This is a power struggle. That's what we have to realize. And to win this power struggle we need the new, the young, the strong and the able...because only they know how to negotiate the new rules that are now in effect. Alas, our criminals too are world-class and internationally competitive.
In the meantime a spurious facebook page purporting to be that of Dudus Coke is making the rounds in cyberspace. It's a no holds barred version so if you're under 15 or an Ayatollah or a member of Jamaica's Moral Majority you might want to make a hasty switch to a less profane website.
Finally, take a look at National Dish by Michael 'Flyn' Elliott below. As a painted image it pretty much captures our predicament as a society. And for a variety of innovative takes or interpretations of the state we're in you must visit the National Gallery's Young Talent V which opened today. It is an exciting show that signals the resurgence of the visual art scene here. Here is a link to my photos from the opening.
Remember what the donkey said?: the worl nuh level. Translation: There's no level playing field. While the Jamaican government is catching hell from all sides for not surrendering to the US's request to extradite Christopher 'Dudus' Coke on various charges, the most serious of which seems to be drug-running, India has practically given up on trying to extradite US citizen David Coleman Headley, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Headley who has Pakistani roots is also accused of conspiring to target a Danish newspaper. He has pleaded guilty to all terror charges before a US court.
In spite of this the US refuses to extradite Headley to India. Neither will he recieve the death penalty. According to an India Today article:
49-year-old Headley, who faces six counts of conspiracy involving bombing public places in India, murdering and maiming persons in India and providing material support to foreign terrorist plots and LeT; and six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of US citizens in India, could have been sentenced to death if convicted.
But his plea agreement with federal prosecutors ruled out the death penalty and extradition to India, Pakistan and Denmark, provided that he cooperates with the government's terrorism investigations.
"Headley will cooperate in foreign investigation conducted in the US," his lawyer John Theis told reporters after the hearing.
Headley, a Chicago resident who was arrested by the FBI's joint terrorism task force on October 3 last year, told US District Judge Harry Leinenweber that he wanted to change his plea to guilty, in an apparent bid to get a lighter sentence than the maximum death penalty.
Son of a former Pakistani diplomat and a Philadelphia socialite, Headley, who was wearing an orange jumpsuit with hands and legs shackled, admitted guilty in all 12 counts during half an hour long hearing.
Meanwhile back home on the rock Police are worried that if Dudus is extradited the country's 268 gangs will unite in protest and wage a war against 'law and order.'
In its annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the Barack Obama administration castigated Jamaica's Golding administration for not handing strongman Coke to the US as requested. As the report noted:
The GOJ’s unusual handling of the August request for the extradition of a high-profile Jamaican crime lord with reported ties to the ruling JLP which currently holds a majority in Parliament, on alleged drug and firearms trafficking charges marked a dramatic change in GOJ’s previous cooperation on extradition, including a temporary suspension in the processing of all other pending requests and raises serious questions about the GOJ’s commitment to combating transnational crime.
For more on Headley read this New York Times article and watch the following videos. Interestingly Headley was also a heroin dealer under investigation by the DEA in the nineties.
First magazine, the innovative, streetwise, fashion-conscious chronicle of 'modern life in Jamaica' is back in multimedia form this time. The video below in which photographer Biggy Bigz talks about his iconic photo "A Picture called Death' is making the rounds right now and is presented below for your viewing pleasure.
March 24, 2008. La Roose, Port Henderson. Photos by Biggy Bigz.
The region's dysfunctionality so memorably captured in snapshot form by Marlon 'Biggy Bigz' Reidhas caught the attention of the international media. The link between organized crime and Caribbean states is suddenly coming in for close scrutiny. Perhaps the local media is too paralysed by fear to produce such hard-hitting news stories but last week the conservative journal, Foreign Policy, carried an article on Trinidad and Tobago called Trouble in Paradise, labeling it the newest narcostate in the world'. The paragraph below is excerpted from that article:'
... unfortunately, the Port of Spain government helps stoke the drug trade and the gangs. The country's annual per capita GDP has risen from about $11,000 to $18,800 in the past decade due to strong exports of natural gas and steel. Still, unemployment remains high, and to create jobs, the government spends about $400 million per year on make-work projects. The bulk of this money is ultimately funneled to gang leaders, who administer "grants" and distribute "salaries." Indeed, corruption -- always a problem in the country -- is reaching new heights. According to several security analysts, a damning unofficial study carried out by the government in 2009 suggested that almost 90 percent of police officers were regularly involved in illegal activities. Those pursuits ranged from running and selling drugs, to colluding with gangs by renting out weapons to criminals, to performing extralegal killings.
The American authorities have become frustrated at what they see as foot-dragging by Jamaica’s government over their request last August for the extradition of a man they say is the leader of an “international criminal organisation”.
A “Gang Threat Assessment Survey” conducted by the Jamaican government last year reckoned there were 268 criminal groups in Jamaica, earning cash from extortion, selling cannabis, transporting cocaine, contract killings, prostitution and international cybercrime. Many of them are merely small-time thugs. But the United States Justice Department has put Mr Coke on its “world’s most dangerous” list, accusing him of directing drug deals as far away as New York.
Mr Coke’s home patch is Tivoli Gardens, a tough inner-city garrison close to the waterfront. It is the core of the Kingston Western parliamentary seat, held since 2005 by the prime minister, Bruce Golding, and for 43 years before that by Eddie Seaga, his predecessor as leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
...The State Department’s annual narcotics report, published on March 1st, talks of a “dramatic change” from earlier co-operation on extradition. It says Mr Coke has “reported ties” to the ruling party and that the delay in extraditing him “highlights the potential depth of corruption in the government.” Although the report acknowledges that a police anti-graft squad has made progress in catching crooked policemen and officials, it says some gang bosses enjoy police and political protection.
Clovis, Jamaica Observer, Tuesday, November 3 2009
Well, you might say the country is resigned to it. We have resigned ourselves to the fact that the economy will continue to decline while the crime rate continues to spiral. The mood of resignation even influenced some influential people into resigning over the weekend. On Friday the 30th of October the Governor of the BOJ resigned. On Sunday the first of November the Police Commissioner resigned (Hardley Lewin), incidentally just a few hours after I wrote about the pressure on him to resign (see below).
Derick Lattibeaudiere had been Governor of the BOJ since 1996 and was no stranger to the public sphere where his unorthodox expense accounts had come under scrutiny. He was not however one to profile with the Page Two class and seemed to share a sense of privacy almost as comprehensive as Christopher 'Dudus' Coke's. Like the latter he was said to rule with an iron hand, and shunned rather than courted media attention. In fact when contacted by Cliff Hughes (Nationwide radio) for an explanation of his sudden resignation, his forthright rebuff seemed to suggest that it gave him no end of pleasure to turn Hughes down because for once he didn't HAVE to answer a journalist's questions; he was no longer a public servant obliged to account to the media for his actions. When the pugnacious Hughes persisted, Latty, as he's fondly known, essentially terminated the interview by exhorting the media whiz to avoid vulture-like behaviour.
You have to remember that both these resignations have taken place while an IMF team is here negotiating terms with the Finance Minister (or explaining whatever new method of lassoing us it has developed) for a loan. I would have to conclude then that these two resignations had the approval of the IMF, if not actually coming at their instigation. Someone like Latty would have been a prime candidate for an IMF-recommended chop. He was hired in the 90s when neoliberalism reigned supreme and fatcat salaries were the order of the day "because if the public sector wanted the best they had to pay private sector salaries and perks."
Clovis, Jamaica Observer, Nov. 2, 2009
Whereas fatcat CEOs have fallen or been taken down in the US as a fallout of the failure of their banking and investment system we haven't gone through such a process here. Maybe this is the beginning?
By the way there were some interesting responses on Twitter and Facebook to the Police Commissioner's resignation:
bigblackbarrySince mostly clowns get the work I wonder if dem going to give Hell A Lewis the commish job??
and echoing that this last one from the comments on the Observer website is priceless:
kgn 13 yute
Christopher Coke is the man for the job. If all the JLP enclaves are under one order and the prezi gives the orders, he most certainly can handle the job
Ask some police officers, they are already under the order.
I will wait sit here in the US and be the first to nominate Mr. Coke.
At first I thought it was someone banging on the door; then I realized that the persistent hammering that woke me up in the wee hours of the morning today was the sound of gunfire from August Town. The barely healed wounds of this historic community that lies less than a mile away from my home are once again being ripped open after almost three years of calm ensuing from a peace treaty signed by all contending parties. August Town, adjoining the University of the West Indies, has also benefited in many ways from the outreach programmes of the university and it is sad to see what had become a model for other violence-torn communities being destroyed like this.
Although public discourse in Jamaica might lead you to believe that at the root of the country's problems are the 'irresponsible' lyrics emanating from its dancehalls, reality suggests otherwise. And that reality is now staring us in the face with the kind of unblinking gaze that makes it difficult to keep it under wraps anymore. I'm referring to the case of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, wanted by the Americans for a number of drug-related crimes. Their demand for his extradition to the United States to stand trial for his offences has literally thrown a cat among the pigeons here for the government seems in no hurry to ship Dudus off to keep his tryst with destiny.
Las May, The Gleaner, September 27, 2009
Las May, The Gleaner, September 08, 2009
“Why are we waiting, Prime Minister Golding?” asked Jamaica and the World a blog that never fails to put its finger squarely on the problem. The blogger went on to remark:
“Then today, October 15, 2009, we hear that our Commissioner of Police Hardley Lewin is being pressured to resign. Probably because he doesn’t like the Prime Minister who is presiding over the non-extradition of “Dudus” and the non-resignation of Joe Hibbert, complaining that the Jamaica Constabulary Force isn’t doing enough to combat crime……. Yeah, right.”
The problem to put it quite bluntly is that Dudus is probably Jamaica's most important 'non-state actor'. Dudus is widely credited with wielding influence not merely amongst supporters of the ruling party but also across party lines in West Kingston, an area that is almost a state within the Jamaican state. A shadowy figure, he runs the 'mother of all garrisons'--Tivoli--strategically located near Kingston Harbour. Garrisons are vote banks, communities where all residents are required to toe the political line set down by the strongman, in this case Dudus. Tivoli also happens to be the constituency of the Prime Minister. But if the Prime Minister appears too anxious to please the US by handing over the 'President' (as Dudus is also known) he stands to lose the political support of a constituency that has always been loyal to his party. This could prove devastating to his term in office as his party rules by a very narrow lead.
As a result of this tense standoff Jamaica stands uneasily poised between the long arm of the world's de facto 'police' force, the United States, and the united state of West Kingston which has already showed its muscle once before when another strongman from the area, Donald 'Zekes' Phipps was arrested in 1997. Despite the fact that Zekes was a PNP don, the entire West Kingston area, which is predominantly JLP, united in closing down downtown Kingston to protest his arrest. Dudus is the person who is said to have engineered this unprecedented unification across party lines and if anything the respect for his rule of 'law' has only increased over the years (much of the power of the 'Dons' comes from their ability to deliver swift justice and maintain peace in the areas they govern in the absence of a functional state judicial system). “Don’t Touch Di President” warned Bunny Wailer (of Bob Marley and the Wailers), in a song pointing out the benefits Dudus had brought to the people of West Kingston. “If you remove the Queen Bee from the hive you get a lot of mad bees,” Wailer declared in an interview with Cliff Hughes on TVJ's Impact programme.
In fact the entertainment world is making the most of this uniquely Jamaican predicament. Entertainment Report, TVJ's pertly provocative telemagazine has been putting the question "Do you think Dudus should be extradited?" to a range of unsuspecting interviewees from the man on the street to the Honourable Edward Seaga, former JLP party leader and architect of Tivoli. All have ducked the question, with one man actually exclaiming, "You can't ask me that!" and then turning tail and running for his life from the probing TV camera. Below is a youtube video of theTwins of Twins spoof of the Dudus situation:
Meanwhile rumour has it that Jamaica's beleaguered police commissioner may soon be leaving to take up a lucrative contract elsewhere. In a recent speech he identified the nexus between crime and politics as one of the top obstacles in the ever escalating battle to control crime. He has also spoken out against corruption within the force as did the previous police commissioner Lucius Thomas. A week or so after Lewin's speech Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green, one of the UK imports into the police force, roused the ire of the Police Federation when he said that some cops who are murdered may be involved in illicit activities themselves. Predictably the Federation demanded his head on a platter claiming that there was little truth to his statements. Well, if there's any truth to these statements what else would one expect them to say?
Clovis, Jamaica Observer
Needless to say speculation is rife about whether the Police Commissioner is being pressured to resign. Another UK import, Mark Shields, who was until recently also an Assistant Commissioner of Police here has recently set himself up as a security consultant. A wise move considering the lay of the land, wouldn't you say? He has also joined the twittering classes and his laconic but telling tweets are worth following. On October 22nd this was what he tweeted:
“...Another attempt to remove the Commish. Beware the elements from within. They've a personal interest in removing ALL outsiders.”
And two days before that: “Things looking up? http://bit.ly/MCKzZ”.
When you clicked on the link it took you to the following letter in the Daily Gleaner:
Police force needs a DCP Mark Shields Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Dear Editor,
One cannot fault persons for believing the "rumours" that Commissioner of Police Hardley Lewin had resigned. While the commissioner has speculated as to who such rumours could be attributed to, and their less than honourable motives, I wish to put forth a simpler, less sinister motive: the commissioner is no longer seen nor heard from at a time when crime remains our most pressing concern!
The only person within the JCF who seemingly realised the need for visible leadership, and who was willing and brave enough to be the "face" fighting crime was former DCP Mark Shields. Since his recent retirement from the police force, no one seems willing or able to take up that mantle. While Shields was vilified in some quarters (wrongly, in my view), for constantly being both seen and heard, it is exactly the type of reassurance that a frightened public need, not to mention it was only under DCP Shields that the public's confidence in the JCF was restored, in that witnesses finally felt they had an incorruptible but approachable person in whom they could confide.Again I ask, who is taking up that mantle at a time when much of the public views and fears the police in no different a light than they view the common criminal?
In his usual manner the commissioner claims to be "working quietly behind the scenes". While I am not questioning that fact, with all due respect, Commissioner, the job calls for far, far more. The public needs visible and inspirational leadership in the fight against crime. We need hope. We need someone to inspire confidence and a trusted "face" in the fight against the ruthless criminals who terrorise us daily. Dare I say we need a DCP Mark Shields? His departure is certainly a case of our not knowing, nor appreciating what we had until it's gone!...”
Hi, I used to write a column called Style and Passion in the Sunday Herald (Jamaica). Had to give it up when they changed the word 'Bollywood' to Hollywood in my last piece. Now I'm looking forward to life without editors in this blog which i hope you'll tell others about...
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