Dawn Ritch, ContributorJust in case we thought it was a new year, the brutal massacre of women and children in 100 Lane reminds us that things don't change in Jamaica. They only get worse.
Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams has been all over the media in his dark glasses expounding theories on the tragedy and issuing threats. I thought both he and the unit he heads, the Crime Management Unit (CMU), were under investigation and review by the Police Commissioner. Has he been given a clean bill of health not only by a frightened and misguided public opinion, but by the Commissioner himself, who is clearly not in charge?
SSP Adams is threatening "drastic measures" against sundry Jamaica Labour Party strongholds far away from the scene of the crime on Red Hills Road. One may assume therefore that the country can expect another Braeton Seven, where the CMU led an attack on a private home in the early part of last year that left seven young men dead, and apparently shot at close range. I say "apparently" because a Coroner's Inquest is yet to be held into these killings, despite the law which states that one must be held as soon as possible after the event.
After that came the killing of 27 residents of West Kingston in a three-day operation led by the same police officer. Have drastic police measures in Jamaica come to mean extra-judicial killings conducted with impunity, boasted about on television, and nobody in authority to silence much less control this abject behaviour?
Braeton killings
The circumstances of the Braeton killings remain an unsolved mystery. The killings in Tivoli look fated to go that way as well. Last Monday Justice Julius Issac described Tivoli as "a hive of criminal activity", yet it has no record of rampant murder there like the rest of Kingston. Indeed the only time people seem to get killed in West Kingston is during a police operation. It seems SSP Adams only has strength for certain inner-city communities, and it appears that the residents must not be tried in a court of law, but killed on spot. The CMU itself resembles nothing more than the Tonton Macoute complete with dark glasses, black suits and armed to the teeth. The late "Papa Doc" Duvalier introduced this to Haiti, and justice in that country has been from the barrel of a gun ever since.
All will remember the Wire-tapping scandal of last year. The public will also remember that the voices of prominent people were said to be caught on tape in conversations with area dons and drug dealers, whose phones were being tapped in a police operation which resulted in the dismissal of Jimmy McGregor. The latter has since been honoured by the Bahamian Government for his help in breaking a drug-smuggling ring.
The Jamaican wire-tapping, though critical in its implications for national security, remains another unsolved mystery. All reports were sent long ago to the Director of Public Prosecution who has yet to tell us anything, save that a minor functionary at the telephone company as well as Jimmy McGregor should be prosecuted. The DPP has failed to shed any light on the suspicions that were aroused as a result of the recorded conversations.
Major drug finds are reported in Westmoreland, but nobody is apprehended. A major arms and ammunition find was reported at West Great House Circle in Kingston, a number of people's names mentioned in connection with it, but nobody was arrested. More unsolved mysteries.
The Prime Minister launched a big promotional campaign on Values and Attitudes, but his administration actively ignores law-breakers of high standing. And this while the human rights of poor black people all over this country are being actively abused by the security forces.
Poor people's pension money is to be used to build Highway 2000, so that tax-payers can pay a toll on it for 30 years to a foreign company. The Government claims that these new highways will help the economy to grow, but far from it they are destroying the livelihood of the surrounding communities.
In his haste to announce a "Solid Achievement" the Prime Minister opened the Old Harbour By-Pass prematurely. I hear that there were no signs on it so a score of motor vehicle accidents happened in the first 24 hours. I also hear that there were no exits so the fish vendors from Old Harbour have started to demonstrate. And there are still no lights. It is a scandal of public administration.
His Minister of Industry and Technology is no less hasty. Since nobody investigated the collapse of English Sports which also received Intech Funds, the Minister was strengthened to give another $200 million to NetServe which also collapsed. Before any report had been received about the latter company from its receiver or the Auditor General, Prime Minister Patterson had already cleared Mr. Paulwell because they supposedly share the same "exuberance". Where all that money went and why I suppose, is to remain yet another unsolved mystery.
Equally baffling is how hundreds of millions of dollars of tax-payers' money can be expected to successfully set up call centres in Jamaica. These centres are to provide jobs for Jamaicans answering overseas calls, but who in the main can't speak Standard English. Nevertheless I understand there is to be a new Commission for the proliferation of patois. This is an administration where the right hand never knows what the left is doing.
But money is no object to this Government. They give it away freely and enthusiastically, especially to foreigners, and accounting for it is neither here nor there. The Bank of Jamaica was caught out by this column for publishing false and misleading information. Then at Christmas the BOJ said there was $23 billion in circulation. Try telling that to grocery stores and rum bars, because many of them have been asking me where the money went. I wonder whether or not this is another case of the criteria for measurement having changed. Whatever it is, the money in circulation last month remains a mystery from the tiniest shop to the greatest conglomerate.
Fat salary scandal
The Governor of the BOJ, however, has had his contract renewed. Readers will remember that Mr. Derrick Latibeaudere figured prominently last year in the Fat Salary Scandal. Was the Board consulted on this occasion, and if they were not, how can they in conscience continue to serve? Although a public servant, the Governor now earns a salary which is a mystery, although we, the taxpayers provide it. This lack of transparency is itself scandalous.
And let's not forget that not another word has been heard about the conch story. Huge shipments of illegal conch were sent to the United States by a company owned by the husband of the President of JAMPRO. JAMPRO is a Government agency which is supposed to ensure the integrity of Jamaican exports, and nurture them. No one should be surprised, however, that there has been no follow-up, because JAMPRO's chairman was a major player in the Mechala Group when they reneged on a US Dollar Bond Issue by applying to the local court to settle the debt for less. This was the first ever bond issue raised overseas by a Jamaican company. Nevertheless he continued to chair the board. Yet another mystery.
The country is also entitled to an explanation on how a female representing FINSAC on the board of Island Life, came to move from being a consultant to FINSAC to becoming the president of the newly-restructured Life of Jamaica now owned by Barbados Mutual, the owners of Island Life. In effect she advised the Government on how to dispose of the asset, and now is perched in the cat bird's seat, herself in charge of the operation of the asset.
In the meantime, the Court of Appeal has withheld judgments on a number of FINSAC cases for over a year and a half. This means that people cannot get on with their lives, because there really is no end in sight to this horrible purgatory. Even some court decisions have become a mystery in Jamaica today.
Does anybody work around here? Or is it all ginnalship and murder at taxpayers' expense?
